Right of Passage
by Righteous Dreams
Summary: Hogwarts is only available to those who are of a pure-blood or half-blood line. All that is about to change, when one young witch is determined to learn at the most prestigious magical school in Britain. H/Hr R&R! Rated M for chapters to come. Hiatus
1. Just Letting It Happen!

A/N: This is my first fanfic, and whether or not I really continue this depends on your responses. Hope to hear from you soon! Also, I own nothing but this particular story line.

_Sept 1, 1995_

A dark, shadowy, figure creeps slowly into the second floor bedroom, making as little noise as possible so as not to wake the young man sleeping in the bed. Reaching the foot of the bed, the figure stands up to his full height, pulling out his wand and directing it at the sleeping figure. A dark blue spell shoots from the tip, impacting the face of the sleeping young man, who wakes up spluttering as he is now soaking wet, one word breaking from his lips after the already fleeing figure.

"SIRIUS!"

Cackling madly, Sirius ran from the room as quickly as he could, shortly followed by a fully drenched and fairly ticked off Harry Potter. To anyone passing by this particular house in Godric's Hollow it would seem as if a war was being fought, as spells could be seen flashing past windows and impacting on various walls, doors and household items at a near alarming rate as Harry chased Sirius around the manor.

As Sirius ran up the grand staircase for the second time he was stopped short by a diminutive figure with a wand pointed right between his eyes. Turning around to try and flee, Sirius found Harry right behind him, wand pointed at his chest. The woman sighed as she saw her son drenched from head to toe.

"Sirius, was it really necessary to wake Harry up like that?

"Aw, come on Lily, it was just a harmless prank, and besides, he's up now, isn't that what you wanted?"

"Sirius, I asked you to get him up, not turn my house into an active war zone!"

"Fine, fine," Sirius replied as he turned to Harry and raised his wand. He didn't get much farther as Harry hit him with a stunner and levitated him off the ground so he wouldn't hit his head on the ground.

"I am not done with you Sirius," Harry muttered, talking to the stunned and floating form of his godfather, "You started this, and I am going to finish it."

Harry made to walk past his mother, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest. "You need to get ready, Ron and Draco will be here soon, and you have no time for this."

"Aww mum, he started it. Look, I will be done with him soon, and then I will get ready to go. Ron and Draco won't be here for another two hours."

Lily sighed and smiled at her son, "All right, just make sure you are ready." Removing her hand from Harry's chest she walked down the stairs on her way to the Kitchen before turning around, "Harry?"

"Yeah mum?"

"Don't get him too bad, he does have to teach tomorrow."

"Ok mum," replied Harry dismissively, making his way back to his room where he would find some way to prank his godfather.

Lily sighed again and smiled to herself as she walked down the rest of the stairs and into the manor's extensive kitchen to find Holly, their house-elf, hard at work making breakfast for them. Lily barely sat down at the table before a cup of coffee found its way in front of her. Smiling at the house-elf and giving her a nod, Lily looked around her home, already starting to feel how lonely it was going to be with her son and best friend gone for the school year. She loved the boys company and, although she knew and loved Hogwarts, was a little upset that they had to go, leaving her with just her job and this big lonely house. Sure she had her friends from school, but she wanted her son by her side as much as possible, a feeling that was intensified as she thought about how she nearly lost him as she had lost her husband.

_Flashback_

_Lily, James and Harry were walking down the streets of Godric's Hollow, celebrating their first Halloween where they could dress Harry up and take him Trick or Treating. Deciding to take a shortcut through the park, Lily turned to James._

"_Stay here, I am going to run to the house and get the camera. I want pictures of us on the park."_

_James smiled to his wife and gestured for her to go, taking Harry's hand and walking slowly over to the fountain nearby. They hadn't gone far when a cloaked figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere in front of the two. James didn't spare a second glance before scooping Harry into his arms and breaking out into a full run, shouting at the cloaked figure, "You'll never get my son, Tom, not as long as I am alive."_

_Tom Riddle merely raised his wand and pointed it at James back as he ran, and a sickly green spell hit James squarely between the shoulder blades. His momentum carried him another few feet as Harry fell from his arms and he landed in the grass, dead. Tom walked up to Harry and watched as Harry cried from the fall. Lily was just in time to see Tom raise his wand and cast the same spell at Harry, only have it rebound on himself, killing him instantly._

_End Flashback_

Lily had been devastated, thinking she had lost her husband and son at that moment, sinking to her knees in tears, the camera lying discarded on the ground. It wasn't until she heard a small cry that she found the will to pick herself up off the ground to find Harry still alive, and Tom's body lying motionless on the ground. For years she could barely stand to be more than a few feet from Harry, fearing that she would lose him for real at any time. His years at school had hardly been any better, facing Voldemort not once, but three times in four years, the last time witnessing his return. It had taken no small effort on Dumbledore's part to convince Lily that Harry should return to school. Voldemort, he said, would continue to come after Harry until he was dead, and that Harry needed to fight him, and that Dumbledore himself would train Harry. Not that it seemed that Harry needed much training. The boy was a spectacular duelist, she had seen it herself. That dueling club that Dumbledore had created in Harry's third year had turned Harry into quite the sorcerer, equal in natural ability, though not quite knowledge, of most of the staff. He was also very skilled on a broom, probably the best seeker the school had ever seen, not that Harry would admit it to himself. In Harry's eyes he was just the average student, hating the fame that came with all the spectacular things that he had accomplished. He just wanted to be the normal teenager with friends and laughs and love.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Harry walking into the Kitchen, cleaned up and smiling broadly. He sat down as a plate of food was placed in front of him and his mother and dug in.

Right of Passage

"I still don't see why I can't go. It's so unfair!" pleaded Hermione Granger. She stood in front of an old man sitting at desk looking at her over his half-moon glasses. "The notion of inheritance of magic through blood is ridiculous. What about squibs? What happens to them? Who cares if I am muggle-born, why should I not be allowed to learn magic? Why can't I go to Hogwarts?" Tears were streaming from her eyes as she finished, sinking into her chair.

"Miss Granger, I truly understand what you mean, and I agree with you completely. However, I did not say that you could not go this year." The old man's eyes were twinkling as he watched Hermione's face go from teary-eyed and crying to a gigantic smile and tears of joy. She practically launched herself over the desk and wrapped the old man in a hug, before pulling back and looking at him thoughtfully.

"How did you manage that? I thought it was impossible?"

"Miss Granger, there are some things that you do not know about me and my role in the wizarding world. First, is that I am not Aberforth Bumblebee who lives in your neighborhood as you think I do. Rather, I am Albus Dumbledore." He paused as the girl gasped, "I have taught you much, my dear, and I have spent many hours getting the pertinent information and subtly placing files and documents where they need to be. All this effort has allowed me to enroll you in Hogwarts in time for you to start your fifth year."

"But, how? I am not from a magical family. I don't know where my magic came from. How did you do it?"

"Miss Granger, as much as I would love to tell you this tale, for a thrilling tale it is, we do not have time for this discussion. The train for Hogwarts leaves in two hours. Now, I can help you pack, and I have here the supplies and books you will need, but we still need to hurry in order to get to King's Cross Station and I have a few important details that we must go over. First, when you go to school, your bloodline will be through the Ancient and Noble line of Peverell. While your ancestors left the family, it will still explain where you got your magic. You will also say that your parents wanted you to go to private tutors before ever attending Hogwarts. Second, don't say anything about me being your tutor. Other than that, you should be able to use your significant mental abilities to spin a tale of your liking."

Hermione once again engulfed Dumbledore in a bone-crushing hug as the old man chuckled. Standing up and placing his arms on Hermione's shoulders he looked at her with a piercing stare. Hermione was rooted to the spot. _How does he do that?_ She thought. After a moment of silence, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Do me a favor once you graduate Miss Granger. There are people at Hogwarts who believe as we believe, but they are not out in the open. You will need to make friends and learn through those friendships who share our beliefs. But don't let first impressions scare you away. Beneath the surface there are those who would be very supportive, they just need a nudge in the right direction. When you find these friends, and you graduate, make an effort to change our world, Miss Granger, because our world needs it, and I have every confidence in you that you and those friends can be an instrument for that change."

With that, Dumbledore grabbed Hermione's arm and they apparated away with a soft "pop."

Right of Passage

"You know Potter, with all the trouble that you get into at school, I cannot fathom what Dumbledore was thinking when he made you Prefect."

Ron, Draco and Harry were walking down the train platform of King's Cross, winding through the crowds of parents and children in an effort to get their own compartment, somewhere near the back of the train.

"He was thinking 'Anyone but Malfoy, anyone but Malfoy.'" Harry replied, earning a laugh from Ron and a growl from Draco.

"I told you Potter, keep Lucius' name out of this. I refuse to be related to that moron."

Harry held up his hands in defense, "Alright, alright, don't get your knickers in a knot Draco, I just forgot for a minute. No need to hex me."

As the trio worked their way through the crowd, Harry's eyes were inexplicably drawn to a young woman struggling to get her trunk onto the train. With a murmured statement to his friends about meeting up with them after the prefects meeting, he made his way over to her. Placing his hand on her shoulder he said, "Can I give you a hand?"

She turned and looked at him, her chocolate brown eyes seeming to stare into his soul. After a moment she smiled.

"Sure, thank you. These trunks are really heavy." She relinquished her grasp on her trunk and followed Harry on to the train. Finding an empty compartment, he placed her trunk on the overhead rack and took the opportunity to look her over. She was a new face but also obviously not a first-year. She looked to be about his age, her eyes were gorgeous, her slim figure, although hidden beneath her robes, was obviously an attractive one and her hair. Oh man her hair. Rarely did two strands follow the same path down from her head to her waist, but together formed a beautiful picture. Harry couldn't look anywhere but at her. He eyes simply refused to move from her.

Hermione was having the same issue. Her body simply refused to obey her commands. She was looking at this young man who was easily very attractive. His hair was obviously messed up that made him look like he had just gotten off a broom, he had a kind face, and eyes that could keep you focused only on him. But it wasn't these things that kept her attention, it was something from her core that simply refused to let him out of her sight. It was then that she saw his scar, the small lightning bolt just peeking through his hair. _Oh Merlin, it's Harry Potter! _She thought.

The two of them stood there, not noticing the time passing or the students that jostled them around on the train corridor. They were in their own little world, focused entirely on each other. Without warning, the train lurched forward, sending Hermione flying straight into Harry's arms, and he caught her without even thinking. As they stood there, Harry holding Hermione, their faces slowly coming closer and closer together and their lips met. Tentatively at first, before the kiss grew more intense with Harry drawing her tighter to him and Hermione throwing her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair, lost in each other. Neither of them noticed the blue flash that filled the compartment, nor the wave of magic that blasted its way from them.

They surfaced only for air, and Hermione leaned her head on Harry. A moment later, both of them jumped back, refusing to look at each other. Harry ran his fingers through his hair and stuttered, "I… um….. I have a meeting to go to," before dashing out of the compartment. Hermione simply stood there, stunned, her fingers gently brushing her lips that had just recently been connected to Harry's. Her legs gave out and she sank down onto the compartment bench. _Oh my God, I just made out with HARRY POTTER!_


	2. Thinking of You

A/N: Thanks everyone for your awesome reviews and encouragements! You have all been awesome. It makes me so excited to see that someone has read and likes my story. Like I said, this is my first story, and I am trying to put my best into it. Just a few notes

Bob-san: I do realize that I could us "Rite" in the title, but it doesn't convey the meaning that I am looking for. Even Microsoft's grammar check wanted me to use Rite, but that is not what I am going for. To me, and according to the definitions I have looked up to make sure my idea is sound, a Rite is something that someone goes through to earn passage. The idea of Right that I am trying to go for is someone's inalienable right, something that they should never have to fight for or earn, but that they just have because they exist.

As I am still working on this story myself, there may be up to a week or two in between updates, depending on how life treats me seeing as I just bought a new computer that I will be breaking in once it arrives (Yay for custom ordered Macs!). I am also going to be updating my profile page as soon as I can get to it. I will work very hard not to keep you waiting too much.

I also realize that this chapter is longer than the previous one. I cannot say that I will have any uniformity when it comes to chapter lengths. I just write until i feel the chapter is done!

The sections from the flashbacks are taken from HP: OoTP Chapter 12 and 13 with a little bit of editing to make it fit the story. All credit for the original writing goes to JK Rowling as we all know.

As always is the case in fan fictions, I own nothing but this particular plot.

_Sept 15, 1995_

Hermione was lying in her bed after an exhausting day of classes. When she was being taught by Professor Dumbledore she hadn't faced this kind of workload but it didn't bother her. This is what she lived for, the challenge, the knowledge, the thrill of learning new things. It was awesome. However, that still didn't mean that the workload was easy. Every day she would spend her time in classes, eating, or in the library. She hadn't found very many people she felt she could approach to be friends, which didn't bother her unduly. Yes, Professor Dumbledore had urged her to find friends who shared her belief about magical heritage, but how do you go about finding those people? It's not like she could just go up to someone and say 'Hello, are you a supporter of the magical inheritance because I am a muggle-born witch studying here and I need your help to change wizarding society.' That's to say nothing of the fact that wizarding society had not had a major change in who knows how many generations of witches and wizards.

Her heartbeat sped up a little as she thought about where she was and how she got here. A month ago, even, if someone had told her that she would be going to Hogwarts to continue her magical education she would have laughed at them. She had known it was impossible, more magical records where very precise and although she fought tooth and nail to be able to go to Hogwarts, she had always known in the back of her mind that it was impossible for her to actually go. But now, she was actually here! She was learning from the most amazing professors, except perhaps for Professor Snape. The man seemed to have it out for anyone but his own house, and especially for Harry Potter.

_Flashback_

_Snape could hardly have set them a more difficult, fiddly potion. The ingredients had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times, firstly in clockwise, then in anti-clockwise directions; the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added. _

_'A light silver vapor should now be rising from your potion,' called Snape, with ten minutes left to go._

_Harry, who was sweating profusely, looked desperately around the dungeon. His own cauldron was issuing copious amounts of dark grey steam; Ron's was spitting green sparks. Seamus was feverishly prodding the flames at the base of his cauldron with the tip of his wand, as they seemed to be going out._

_At Harry's cauldron Snape stopped, and looked down at it with a horrible smirk on his face. _

_'Potter, what is this supposed to be?'_

_'The Draught of Peace,' said Harry tensely. _

_'Tell me, Potter,' said Snape softly, 'can you read?'_

_'Yes, I can,' said Harry, his fingers clenched tightly around his wand. _

_'Read the third line of the instructions for me, Potter.' _

_Harry squinted at the blackboard; it was not easy to make out the instructions through the haze of multi-colored steam now filling the dungeon. ' _

_"Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counter-clockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes then add two drops of syrup of hellebore."_

_'Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?' _

_'No,' said Harry very quietly. _

_'I beg your pardon?'_

_'No,' said Harry, more loudly. 'I forgot the hellebore.'_

_'I know you did, Potter, which means that this mess is utterly worthless. Evanesce.'_

_The contents of Harry's potion vanished; he was left standing foolishly beside an empty cauldron._

_'Those of you who have managed to read the instructions, fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing,' said Snape. 'Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday.'_

_End Flashback_

It was so unfair. Sure, her potion had turned out perfectly, so much so that Professor Snape had nothing to comment on it, not even a little praise for it being the best potion in the class, which she was sure it was, but Harry's potion had not been that bad.

Just thinking about Harry brought a blush to her face, and she was glad that it was late and that her dorm-mates where all fast asleep, evidenced by the chorus of snores, so that no one could see how red she was. She hadn't even known the boy and yet they had kissed on the train. It was completely unlike her. She rarely did anything without thinking about it first, and she certainly did not go jumping on every guy she thought might be attractive. Her hand came up to brush her lips as she thought of the kiss that they had shared. He had been gently, but firm, his lips remarkably soft, though she wasn't sure why that surprised her. What really surprised her was the feeling of loss as he had dashed out of the compartment with barely a word and she hadn't been able to bring herself to talk to him till after she had been sorted.

_Flashback_

'_Granger, Hermione!'_

_Hermione sat down on the stool as Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat upon her head. She immediately heard a voice in her head._

'_Hmm, a muggle-born eh? Not seen one of you for a long time.'_

_Hermione froze as fear gripped, she had been found out, and she hadn't even started school yet. What was she going to do? What would everyone do to her when they found out?_

'_Oh don't be afraid young lady, I won't be the one to reveal your secret. I happen to believe just as you and Dumbledore do. I am excited that one such as you has arrived, for I can see some interesting things here in your head. Unwavering loyalty, an unmatched brain just waiting to be filled with knowledge, cunning and wit that speaks volumes about you and all tied together with the heart of a lioness. Now, where to place you?'_

_The hat was silent as he considered where Hermione should go. Seconds seemed to take hours, and she felt as everyone who looked at her was judging her, and that even though the hat said her secret was safe, that she would be revealed any moment now. She was sitting stiff as a board on the stool, so it was really no surprise that she jumped when the hat spoke again._

'_Aha, now I see it. There is a bond, and such a bond I have not seen for centuries. There is a lucky young man in this school. I know you will figure it out eventually. To help you along, better put you in GRYFFINDOR!'_

_The hat shouted the last word for all to hear, and everyone not in Gryffindor politely clapped while the Gryffindors erupted in cheers, happy to gain a new house mate. As she walked toward the Gryffindor table, she felt an intense stare and her eyes sought out the source. She quickly found the emerald orbs that were focused so intently on her and she made her way towards him. His friends made a spot for her to sit by them and she went through a round of introductions. She met Ron and his sister Ginny and their older brothers Fred and George. She met Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who apparently had a twin in Ravenclaw house. She met Draco Malfoy, only she was never to use his last name, as he had separated himself from his family because his father was a Death Eater. She also met Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, and she finally, officially, met Harry. _

_He had avoided her eyes the entire time she was being introduced, but when Ron said his name, he caught her eyes once again. Neither of them moved their gazes an inch, totally fixed on each other. It wasn't until Ron waved a hand in front of Harry's face did they snap out of it._

"_Hey Harry, you all right?"  
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_Harry shook his head and looked at Ron, "Yeah, I am fine, just drifting off in my thoughts for a second."_

_Ron clapped Harry on the back and turned back towards the table, "Well, snap out of it, you don't want to miss all this food."_

_Draco had been regarding Hermione the whole time with an inscrutable expression on his face, before he turned to Harry and said, "Yeah Harry, seriously, Ron hasn't had food in his mouth since we got on the carriages. He needs to eat something in the next five minutes or he might just say something intelligent."_

_Everyone within earshot burst into laughter as Ron's face turned beet red and he tried to get out a retort but ended up spraying food everywhere, earning more laughs and some 'Ewws' from the ladies sitting around them._

"_So Hermione, how come you didn't come to Hogwarts any earlier?" Harry's question brought the laughter down as the people around them started listening more carefully. It wasn't every day that a student who wasn't a first year was sorted into Hogwarts._

"_Well….ummm….," Hermione stuttered for a second, not liking being the center of attention, even though she knew it would happen eventually. Deciding she was not going to fail on her first attempt at telling her story, she took a deep, calming, breath and continued. "My family has followed a long tradition of teaching their children magic on their own. They say that it helps the child grow better. I never questioned this until I was thirteen, and then I started to beg my parents to let me go. At first, they outright refused, telling me it was family tradition that I stay home with them and that there was no way that I could go to Hogwarts. It wasn't until this last summer where they finally allowed me to go. I think that they were hoping that I would go and get tired of it after one year. Anyway, Professor Dumbledore came to my house and tested me on my knowledge of magic and said that it would be fine for me to start in my fifth year, just in time to take my OWL's."_

"_Wow, I have never met anyone who has been taught at home," Ron said, finally swallowing enough food so that his words could be understood, "What was it like? Were your parents good teachers? Did you have to do essays and tests or could you just do the magic and have fun?"_

"_I like essays and tests and reading and stuff like that as well as practical magic, so that is what my parents taught me. I think they were excellent teachers, and they obviously did enough to get me ready to take my OWLs, so they must be good. As far as classes, they taught me when I wanted to learn, so we usually studied for five or six hours a day."_

_Ron stared at her, "You mean you actually wanted to spend time in a book or writing an essay when you could be out doing something much more fun? Why would you want to do that?"_

_Draco sighed and cuffed Ron in the back of the head, "Just because you would rather eat and play Quidditch more than anything else, Weasley, doesn't mean everyone else does."_

"_Anyone who has a hope of being normal doesn't willingly spend time in a book," muttered Ron, earning himself another smack on the head._

_Harry looked to Hermione, "You will have to excuse Ron, Hermione, we have been trying to figure out some sort of spell that would force him to think before words come out of his mouth."_

_The rest of the feast they continued on with conversation that, although amusing, really had no depth to it; Taking the mickey out of Ron, bugging Ginny about her obsession with certain, unnamed, boys, how Snape still needed to wash his hair. When Dumbledore finally dismissed them, Harry rushed out, saying over his shoulder how he needed to help the first-years get to the dormitory. Hermione followed Draco and Ron from the table. They hadn't gone far when Draco pulled Hermione into a classroom, shutting and locking the door with a spell. A bewildered Hermione looked at him, her eyes wide._

"_What are you doing?"_

"_I can't get a read on you Granger. Usually I am pretty good at picking people out, but you escape me."_

"_What? I have no idea what you are talking about Draco. Why did you pull me in here?"_

"_Because there is something about you that I can tell you are hiding. Now, I don't care what it is, and I don' need to know what it is if you don't want to tell me, but don't keep lying to him, and whatever you do don't hurt him. He's been through enough already, he doesn't need another fan girl. Just, take care of him."_

_Hermione was shocked. Whatever she had been expecting to come of this, what Draco had said to her was not it. "Wait, what do you mean, don't hurt him? Him who? Who are you talking about? What are you talking about? Draco!"_

_She didn't get anything out of him other than a knowing smile that left her all the more confused. He unlocked the door and headed to the dormitory. Hermione just stood there, frozen in shock, before she realized that she would get lost in the castle without someone to show her where the dorms where and high-tailed it after Draco._

_End Flashback_

Hermione sighed; she still didn't know what Draco was talking about, though she might have figured out whom. She shook her head. Too many hours had she spent already trying to decipher Draco's cryptic words about not hurting him and that he didn't need another fan girl. Sure, she liked him, he was a likeable guy who was smart, funny, charismatic, but this didn't feel like a crush. She had made an almost unconscious effort to be near him when she could, integrating herself into his circle of friends. She tried to sit near him in classes and at lunch, and she found herself wandering the grounds by the quidditch pitch whenever he had practice. She couldn't explain it, she just had to be near him in some fashion or she was left with this feeling like she was missing a limb. Then there was the matter of what the hat had said to her. Something about a bond. She had had no idea what he was talking about, and had not yet had the chance to research the difference types of magical bonding. She thought that the hat putting her in Gryffindor might be a clue, but for now, she had no idea. Rolling over in her bed, she closed her eyes, forcing her brain to shut down. She needed sleep, she did not need to be up all hours of the night trying to figure out her…. whatever it was…. with Harry Potter.

Right of Passage

Harry was sitting in the astronomy tower trying to sort out his thoughts and feelings. His classes had been utterly brutal, with more homework than he had thought possible for one being to work through, but that wasn't the most surprising part. The thing that got to him the most was just how easily things seemed to be for him now. Sure Potions had been bad, but he never really excelled at that class, especially with the slimy git breathing down his neck and trying his best to humiliate him at every turn. However, Charms class had been a breeze. Flitwick had them all doing Summoning Charms, which Harry had mastered during the Tri-Wizard Tournament that previous year so maybe Charms wasn't that easy, but the biggest surprise came during Transfiguration. Like all their other professors, McGonagall had lectured them about the importance of their OWLs

_Flashback_

_'You cannot pass an OWL,' said Professor McGonagall grimly, 'without serious application, practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work.' Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise. 'Yes, you too, Longbottom,' said Professor McGonagall. There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So . . . today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL.'_

_End Flashback_

Harry had groaned when he heard that. He had never been that good with transfiguration to begin with, so imagine his surprise when the snail he was supposed to be vanishing disappeared completely with the first wave of his wand! Ron had stared at him bug-eyed for the next few minutes before being snapped out of it by Professor McGonagall calling him out to try and vanish his snail. Draco had frozen in his spot before shaking his head and turning his attention back to his snail. Even McGonagall had seemed surprised, her normally stern expression giving way to raised eyebrows and a falling jaw, even if only for a second.

Then there was Hermione. Whoever her tutor or tutors were they had taught her very well. At the third wave of her wand her snail had vanished completely. She didn't even really appear to have any difficulty with the spell, although she did seem a bit miffed that Harry got the spell faster than her. The weird things was, he could feel almost feel her concentration as she worked the spell. How that was possible he didn't know.

Thinking about Hermione just brought back their moment on the train. He had no idea what possessed him to do what he did but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't change the fact that he had actually, outright, kissed this girl whom he knew nothing about. His brow furrowed as he tried to contemplate what was going through his mind, or what could have affected him to such a degree to make him do something so rash. He briefly considered getting himself checked out for love potions, and just as quickly dismissed the idea. How on earth would she have been able to slip him a love potion? It was the first time he had seen her, right?

Harry was so absorbed by his thoughts that he didn't notice the astronomy tower door opening, or the figure who stepped inside, contemplating the boy silently. Walking forward he walked in front of the boy and knelt down.

"Penny for your thoughts, cub?"

Harry looked up, wondering where Sirius had come from, but not really surprised, seeing as he was a Marauder. They possessed such an intimate knowledge of how to move around the school undetected.

"I wish I knew myself, Sirius. Everything just seems so different this year."

"Well, it is your OWL year Harry; things are bound to be harder…"

"But that's just the thing," Harry interrupted, "It's not that hard! Sure, the workload is huge with all the essays and practice and stuff, but the spells just seem to come easier to me. None of the spells in Transfiguration, Charms, or even your Defense spells seem to be that difficult. That and I seem to be able to feel my magic so much more so than before. It's like, I know where it is inside me and it seems to want to work with me, rather than just be forced to do what I want. I don't know how to explain it."

Sirius sat himself against the tower wall beside Harry with a concentrated expression on his face. He knew Harry had some natural abilities, it was only natural with his parent's having the abilities that they did, but even this was unusual. He too had pushed the fifth years hard, knowing just what they would face in their OWLs, but now that he looked back, it did seem that Harry was able to pull off the spells they were practicing all too easy.

"I think I am the only one, besides the new girl, who was not assigned any extra homework except by the greasy git. It's just not natural. Things never come this easy to me, Sirius, never!"

Sirius smiled at the greasy git reference, knowing all too well whom Harry was talking about. Snape still hadn't managed to get over the fact that one of his biggest rivals was now teaching here along with him.

"Harry, you were born into a family with very powerful magical abilities. Your dad was great at transfiguration, your mother at charms so it, so it only makes sense that you would be good at them too. You also seem to have a knack for my class as well, though where that came from I doubt anyone could really say. I wouldn't let that bother you too much, just keep working at it, especially now that Voldemort is back. As for your new magical sensitivity, have you considered going to Poppy about it? She might be able to help."

They sat in silence for a little while, neither really doing much more than shuffling their feet and looking out at the excellent view that Astronomy Tower provided. Sirius was just thinking about getting up and leaving when Harry spoke again.

"Sirius, what do you know about this new girl, Hermione?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows as he turned to look at his godson. Harry had never really mentioned any girls before that he might be interested in. That he brought up this girl brought a smile to his face and a twinkle to his eyes.

"Harry, there is something that you and I need to talk about. People like to refer to it in many ways, like the Bird's and the Bee's, the Life Cycle, or the Talk."

Harry's eyes went wide when he realized what Sirius was talking about and just where this conversation was heading. "Oh God no, not the Talk. There is no way we are having the Talk Sirius. I have heard too much about it from the other guys in the dorm." Harry grimaced as he thought about the images so "delightfully" for him by the tales of Dean and Seamus. Not something he wanted to be thinking about any time in the near future. "I mean, what do you know Hermione? I know that she is new, and she said she had been taught at home. Other than that, I don't really know anything about her."

"Then you know as much, if not more, than the rest of us, cub. That is basically the information that the staff were told as well. Why do you ask?"

Harry's face went red, and he mumbled something unintelligible as he looked away from Sirius, trying to hide the blush from him, knowing the teasing that was probably going to come his way before the night was out.

"What was that Harry, I didn't quite hear you?"

"I…..maybe…with…..train," Harry replied, mumbling into his knees that were now drawn tight to his chest.

"You did what on the train?"

"I, just maybe, made out with her on the train!" Harry burst out, going a shade of red that would have put Ron to shame.

Sirius threw his head back and laughed at the sight of his godson being so embarrassed before what he just heard registered in his brain. "Wait, you made out with whom?"

"Hermione," Harry's voice was low, and Sirius almost didn't catch what Harry had said.

"How did that happen?"

"We were at the platform at King's Cross, and I saw her trying to get her trunk on the train, but she wasn't having the best of time, so I went over to help her. I put her trunk in her compartment, and the next thing I knew, she was in my arms, with her hands in my hair and my hands around her waist and we were kissing. When I finally realized what was happening I pulled back and pretty much ran from the compartment." Harry once again buried his face in his knees in an effort to make himself as small as possible.

Sirius just laughed all the more as he heard what happened. "Well, did you enjoy it?"

Harry's head shot up at the question, but his reply was still a few moments in coming. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair and leaning his head back against the wall, "It was…. nothing short of amazing. I don't think I have ever felt anything so... right. I know I don't have much experience to draw from, but I don't know how else to explain it."

"Harry, there is nothing wrong with kissing a girl, unless you happen to swing the other way," Sirius sniggered and rolled out of the way as Harry tried to smack him, "and I certainly don't see anything wrong with Hermione. She seems smart, funny, maybe a little withdrawn, but all around a good person. You have had so much hardship in your life I don't see any reason why you can't allow yourself a little fun." Sirius stood up and made his way to the door, "Especially since I believe that there is someone out there for you, Harry, and how are you going to find her if you don't start looking." He walked out, leaving Harry on the floor once again with his thoughts.

Someone for him? Harry hadn't really considered that. Then again, why would he, since he spent more time fighting for his life than anything else, it seemed. He just hadn't had time to think about much else. _Why can't life just be simple, for once_.


	3. The Dueling Club

A/N: Hey Everyone! I wanted to apologize for this chapter taking so long. I got my new computer this week (Yay for those beauties that are iMacs!) and have spent the last few days getting everything I need from my old computer onto my new one. Thus the reason for the long delay. However, my computer is now functioning just as I want it to, so write more I must !

I have decided that I will answer any reviews that I can at the end of the story.

The quoted chapter was taken for HP CoS: Chapter 11 and edited to fit this story

As always, I own nothing but this particular plot line, and any characters that I may make up.

_Sept 19, 1995_

Hermione lay on her bed, not really willing to get up. It was her birthday, and the first one that she had spent away from her parents. Sure she had made some friends, but it seemed a little ridiculous to walk up to them a few days before today and say, "Hey guys, it's my birthday on the 19th and I was wondering if you could hold a birthday party for me." Hermione shook her head, yep, ridiculous. So here she was, turning sixteen , and no one to celebrate it with her. _It's going to be a really long day_ she thought.

Right of Passage

Predictably, Harry woke up just a few minutes before his watch was charmed to go off. He hated that. _Oh Well_, he thought, _at least I know I will get to the showers first this morning._ He sat up and listened to the chorus of snores that surrounded him. How he slept through it all, he didn't know. He got up, showered and shaved, before making his way out of the dormitory, and up to the owlery. He had started making this a habit a few years back so that he might have a few moments with Hedwig and a chance to think in some peace and quiet before the day's events. As he walked through the doo his snowy owl hooted softly and flew down from the rafters onto his outstretched palm. He stroked her gently before feeding her a few treats he brought with him. She rustled her wings and ate them quickly before turning her amber eyes to him and gave him a look that clearly said, "Long night?"

Harry didn't know how he could tell what Hedwig was thinking from just looking at her, but he was glad he could, as she often helped him sort through his thoughts. "You have no idea. Snape's essay was ridiculous, and by the time I got to bed all the other guys had started their Halle-snore-jah Chorus, so I didn't fall asleep all that quickly."

Hedwig hooted softly, "Don't you have a charm for that? You are a wizard after all."

"You know, after all these years, I don't know why I never thought of that."

Harry saw a twinkle in Hedwig's eyes as she hooted again, and there was no mistaking it for laughter. "You humans and the things you overlook in your sleepy states." She abruptly moved to look over his shoulder, and Harry spun around to see the Headmaster standing there, his eyes twinkling just as much as Hedwig's, if not more.

"Oh, hello Professor, I was just up here visiting Hedwig..."

"Before you come for breakfast and classes, Harry." Harry just shook his head. He had long since given up on wondering just how the Headmaster figured out nearly everything that went on in the castle.

"Right. Is there something I can do for you sir? I mean, I don't often see you around, so there must be a reason for your visit."

"Always observant Harry, just like your parents. You would make Moody proud of you. Indeed, I do have a reason for visiting you here this cheery morning. I have noticed that the young Ms. Granger has been accepted into your group of friends, and I have come to ask a favor."

Harry simply watched the Headmaster, knowing he would get to the point eventually. The man loved his stories and always had a flair for presentation.

"You see, her birthday is today, and as she was tutored at home this would be her first birthday away from home. I wanted to ask if you could get your friends together and throw her a small party. I am sure if you talked to the house elves they would be glad to supply you with food and drink."

"That sounds like fun sir, but what about the Dueling Club? We were supposed to have our first meeting tonight, and with the homework that everyone in my year has we don't really have time for much else other than the practice."

"Ah, Harry, that sounds like the perfect time for a birthday party. As for your homework, I am sure that you will manage to get it done on time. This is very important to her Harry, and it would make her day to see that her friends care about her so."

Harry ran his fingers through his hair. Who was he to argue with the Headmaster, and besides, everyone deserves a birthday party. Not getting one borders on cruelty, especially the "Sweet Sixteen" as the muggles called it. "All right sir, I will make sure she gets her birthday party." Harry smiled as his thoughts raced forward and planned the party as he stood there. "We can make it a surprise party for her and have it at the same time as the DC. It's going to be awesome."

Dumbledore smiled, and the twinkle in his eyes seemed to get all the brighter as he listened to Harry plan Hermione's birthday party. "Thank you Harry. Now, I will leave you to your owl and your thoughts. Good day." Just as suddenly as he had appeared, Dumbledore left, and after a moment's pause, Harry turned back to Hedwig.

"She must be a special girl for the Headmaster to be looking so closely after her."

If an owl could roll its eyes, that is precisely what Hedwig would have done as she looked at Harry, "He spends just as much time watching over you. Besides, you seem pretty enamored over her too, especially after the train ride."

Harry spluttered and went red in the face. How did she do that? She was just an owl, yet had the ability to make him flush and embarrass him like no one else could, except maybe Luna. Handing Hedwig her last treat he said, "I am not going to ask how you heard about that. I am leaving now, I need to eat." He stroked her feathers once more and she flew off out the window and into the skies. Harry smiled as he watched her go, today was looking up.

Right of Passage

When Harry arrived in the Great Hall, there were only a few eating, so he had plenty of choice about where to sit. No sooner had he finished putting food on his plate when Hermione sat down next to him with a small sigh. Harry looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Something wrong there Hermione?"

Hermione looked at Harry and they were immediately lost in the other's eyes for a moment before Hermione shook her head and sighed again.

"No, it's nothing, just not looking forward to today is all." Her voice seemed to trail off as she spoke. Yes, today was not a day she was looking forward to. She fought back the tear that threatened to fall. She really missed her parents.

"Any particular reason why today is going to be such a bad day?"

"Just a feeling, I guess. No other reason than that."

"Well, if it's just a feeling, than you have no real way of knowing how the day is going to turn out." Throwing his arm around Hermione in a friendly manner he continued, "It could turn to out to be a great day you know?"

Hermione looked at Harry, wondering how on earth he could be so happy, while a small part of her relished at the feel of his arm around her shoulders. She couldn't help but feel a little better as she looked at him, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Before any more could be said, a cheery voice called out to them, "Hiya Harry, Hermione, what are you up to?"

They both turned and saw Ginny walking towards them. Harry saw Ginny narrow her eyes just slightly at the sight of Harry with an arm around Hermione, and he sheepishly withdrew it, not wanting to provoke Ginny's temper this early in the morning. That was a sure fire way of forcing the day to go down hill.

"Just trying to figure out how the day is going to go Gin," Harry said.

"Awesome. Hey, are will still on for the DC meeting tonight?"

"You bet! First one of the year, it's going to be great. Make sure to spread the word that everyone have their coins available. I'll send out information later today." Harry turned back to the table to continue eating his breakfast.

Hermione turned to Harry, her confused thoughts echoed on her face. "DC? What's that?"

Harry took a moment to swallow before filling her in. "It's a Dueling Club. We've been meeting and practicing magic since the beginning of Third Year. We had had a professor in our Second Year who had started the worst excuse for a Dueling Club you could imagine…."

_Flashback_

_"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days ..._

_"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" said Ron, but he, too, read the sign with interest._

_"Could be useful," he said to Harry and Draco as they went into dinner. "Shall we go?"_

_Harry and Draco were all for it, so at eight o'clock that evening they hurried back to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited._

_"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Draco as they edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young - maybe it'll be him."_

_"As long as it's not -" Harry began, but he ended on a groan: Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black._

_Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called ' "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!_

_"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works._

_"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"_

_"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered in Harry's ear._

_Snape's upper lip was curling. Harry wondered why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been looking at him like that he'd have been running as fast as he could in the opposite direction._

_Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of_

_them._

_"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."_

_"I wouldn't bet on that," Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth._

_"One - two - three -"_

_Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew_

_backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor._

_Some of the other Slytherins cheered. Lavender Brown was dancing on tiptoes. "Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers._

_"Who cares?" said Harry, Ron and Draco together._

_Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end._

_"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand - ah, thank you, Miss Brown - yes, an excellent idea to show them that,_

_Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy - however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see . . ."_

_Snape was looking murderous. Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me -"_

_End Flashback_

"And that was the first and last dueling session we had." Harry finished, "It was awful. But, Professor Dumbledore approached me at the beginning of Third Year and asked if I would like to lead a Dueling Club."

Hermione's jaw had dropped as she had listened to Harry's story. She had read all of Lockhart's books and, up until this moment, had thought that he was an amazing wizard who had accomplished so many things. To hear that he was a fraud and that all those books with his "exploits" were just him taking credit for someone else's works, well, that was a harsh blow to take. She chose not to brood on it, though, there were more important things.

"Okay, well what was that about everyone having their coins?"

"Well, when we started the Dueling Club, Professor Dumbledore made us the enchanted coins," He pulled a gold coin out that looked just like a galleon, and noticed Hermione raising her eyebrows at him, "Yeah, they look just like Galleons, but they are worthless, just mock coins. Everyone in the group gets one, and if I change my coin with the information about the next meeting, then everyone else who has a coin feels it get warm and knows to read their coin for the information. Which reminds me, you are hereby invited to join us in the Dueling Club. We meet in the Room of Requirement, which is on the seventh floor across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance."

Harry could see she wanted to object, probably something about homework, just like he had said to Dumbledore but he didn't even let her get a chance to speak, "Nope, you have no choice," he grinned, "I know exactly what homework you have to do, and if I can get it done and still teach at the Dueling Club than you have no excuse. I'll take you there tonight so that you don't get lost or try to sneak out," He winked at her before looking at his watch, "Aww crap, class starts in five," he looked longingly at the food still left on his plate, but got up all the same, grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her up, again noticing Ginny's eyes narrow dangerously as he did so, "Come on, we are going to be late if we wait any longer."

Hermione was pulled along, barely having enough time to grab her book bag before they made their way to charms, Harry pulling her along the entire way, as she was still reeling with all the information.

Right of Passage

For Harry, Charms passed by in a flurry of spells, both correctly and incorrectly cast. For Hermione, Charms seemed to drag on and on, every second seemingly taking forever. Eventually the class came to an end and Hermione hightailed it out of there to get to her next class, just wanting to get this day over with. Harry, however, had the makings of a plan spinning about in his cranium.

Professor Flitwick was cleaning up after the class that just finished when he heard Harry speaking to him.

"Professor, do you have a moment?"

The professor looked up and smiled at Harry, "Of course m'boy, what can I do for you?"

"Well, as you probably have heard, the first Dueling Club meeting is scheduled for tonight and I was wondering if you would be up for your traditional beginning of the year duel?"

Flitwick hopped off his pile of books that he stood on when he taught, "Oh absolutely Harry. Have there been any volunteers this year? Young Draco put in a valiant effort last year."

Harry smiled as he remember Draco taking on Flitwick last year. Draco had put up a valiant effort, but in the end Flitwick had dispatched him with little effort, not surprising considering Flitwick was a former dueling champion. "Not yet, but I am sure that someone will want a go against you at the meeting. I am going to send details out to everyone now," Harry pulled out his coin, supplying all the relevant details into a short message. "_7 pm, RoR, Need duelist for Flitwick, secret bday party for Granger before."_

"There, sent out to everyone, I just hope they have their coins handy."

"Indeed, but most usually do, your meetings are the highlights of many students Harry. Well, you best be off, don't want you to be late for your next class."

"Of course, Professor, and thank you!" Harry waved to Professor Flitwick and left the class with a spring in his step.

Right of Passage

The rest of the day passed by in a blur for Harry as he made plans for Hermione's party and the Dueling Club meeting. The Room of Requirement would provide a suitable setting, but they need food from the kitchens and help planning how the meeting was going to pan out, as well as making sure everyone knew about the meeting. None of this phased Harry in the least. The Dueling Club was one of the most fun things he did at Hogwarts, and the beginning of the year meets were near legendary.

That is how Harry found himself in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for Hermione to come down from the girls dorms. He hoped he wouldn't have to come get her and that she would just accept the fact that she should come with him. Up the stairs, Hermione was wondering how she got dragged into this, and why she just couldn't get her homework done and maybe enjoy a good book before turning in early and getting this day over with.

"Hermione!" Harry called up the stairs, "Come on, or we are going to be late, and that just wouldn't be fair to everyone who is going to be there."

"Just go on without me Harry," she yelled back, "I don't need to be there, I have more important things to do." She figured she was safe, as the stairs were charmed to keep boys out of the dormitory. What she didn't take into account was Harry's flying ability.

Down in the common room, Harry sighed and ran up to his dorm to get his broom, quickly hopping out the window before circling the tower to find the fifth year girls dorm. It didn't take him long. Most of the Gryffindors were at the dueling club, so no lights were on. Flying silently through the open window, Harry saw Hermione sitting on her bed.

"You know," he said, grinning and ignoring her shriek of surprise, "It isn't very polite to leave your escort standing in the common room looking like an idiot."

Hermione had fallen off the floor when Harry had spoken, so he reached out his hand to help her up. She took his hand and huffed as he pulled her up.

"It also is very polite to barge into a girls dorm, especially through the window. What if I had been indecent?"

Harry smirked as his hormones started running, before going red in the face, "Do you have anything to be ashamed about?" He asked boldly. All he got for his effort was a pillow to his facial area that he dodged easily, laughing as he did so.

"Come on Hermione, at least come see what it is about, and if you don't like it after you have seen it, well than you can go, and no one will hold it against you. You've never been, so how can you say that you have more important things to do?"

Hermione had to admit that he had her there. Hard to be sure about something that she had never even attended and learned about. She sighed and said grudgingly, "All right, I'll go, but I am sure that I will be gone within the hour."

Harry's eyes twinkled, "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that," and he scooped her up in his arms, completely forgetting about his broom, and in a masterful show of masculinity, slid down the stairs-turned-slide on his feet, with Hermione in his arms screaming all the way down. They reached the bottom, Hermione's arms locked around Harry's neck, Harry holding her close, and both couldn't help but feel like this was so right. Harry looked at Hermione, catching her brown eyes in his and the two just stood there, lost in the other's gaze. When the moment passed, both turned red and Hermione slowly unraveled herself from Harry, and put her feet on the floor. Harry couldn't help but laugh as he remember the ride down the stairs.

"It wasn't that scary Hermione. I have to ask, though, was the screaming really necessary?"

Hermione smacked his arm with all the force her tiny frame could muster, "Harry Potter! Don't you laugh at me like that!" Which only cause Harry to laugh harder. It was good natured humor, and infectious, and Hermione couldn't help but let out a giggle. "Now come on, you were so anxious to get me to this thing, let's go."

They left the common room and headed to the Room of Requirement in a hurry. When they finally arrived in front of the door, both were out of breath and took a moment to put some oxygen back in their lungs. Harry smiled as he saw the door was already there, hopefully a sure sign that everything had gone according to plan. He turned to Hermione and with a highly overdone bow opened the door for her.

"Welcome to the Dueling Club, Hermione"

Hermione walked in to the Room of Requirement for the first time. She stopped just inside the room and took her time looking around. She didn't get much time before every member of the Dueling Club jumped out from their hiding place with a great shout of, "SURPRISE!" Combined with a little bit of magic, the resultant cry knocked Hermione off her feet and into the arms of Harry for the second time that night. _I really have to stop ending up here if I want to think straight for the rest of the evening_, she thought as she noticed the feelings running through her yet again that threatened to halt all intelligent thought. Fortunately, Harry put her down pretty quick and with a quick shake of her head she resumed taking in her surroundings, complete with all the members of Dueling Club who were here to celebrate her party. Then it dawned on her, they were holding a surprise party FOR HER! Tears sprang to her eyes and she stood there speechless and crying. A party for her, little ol' Hermione, the new girl on the block. She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her arm.

"I….. I don't…. I don't know what to say….. thank you s-s-so much," she managed to get out in between her joyful sobs, "Y-you don't know w-w-what this means to me."

Draco came up and gave her a hug, "Hey, don't thank us, we are just here to have some fun, it was all Harry's idea, he got everything ready."

Hermione turned to Harry, "H-how did you even know it was my birthday?"

Harry just gave her the lop-sided smile that was constantly the gossip of the girls loo, _And for good reason_, she thought.

"That's a trade secret, Hermione, and a magician never reveals his secrets," His eyes twinkling before he was attacked by Hermione, who wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, much to the amusement of (almost) everyone watching. There were plenty of wolf-whistles and cat calls before Hermione let him go, her face red with embarrassment. Displaying finesse with a woman that was not often attributed to him, Harry didn't miss a beat making sure that she met everyone in the Dueling Club.

After about half an hour of partying and gift opening, during which she got a large assortment of sweets that would have been instantly confiscated by her dentist parents had she received them at home, a beginnings joke box from Fred and George, and an advanced potions kit from Harry with matching books on Transfiguration and Charms, Ron's voice carried above the noise of the crowd.

"Hey Harry, are we finally going to get this Club meeting underway, or are we just going to party all night. Not that I mind," he added sheepishly at the end.

"Yeah, I want to see the big duel!" Another voice called out, later to be identified as Dean Thomas.

Harry raised his hands and motioned for silence, "Unfortunately, no one volunteered to take Professor Flitwick on in a duel, so unless someone feels brave enough to step up now, we will probably just go on with a review and maybe some new stuff tonight."

There was a collective groan and Draco spoke up, "Come on, I can't be one of the only two people to get their arse handed to them, can I? Somebody has to go up. Harry, how about you?"

There was a collective murmur of agreement that quickly rose in volume, all saying how Harry should duel Professor Flitwick, seeing as he had taken on You-Know-Who just a few months ago. Harry stiffened as he remembered that 'duel' if you could call it that. It had been a slaughter of an innocent young man in the prime of his life, not to mention the resurrection of his bitter enemy.

"Guys, as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm I don't think I can duel Professor Flitwick and still teach a lesson."

The roar of voices that voiced their dislike of his statement nearly knocked him off his feet. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Hermione, who stood on the tips of her toes and whispered in his ear.

"What could it hurt Harry, they all want to see you do this."

Harry worked as hard as he could to hide the shudder that threatened to run through him as he listened to Hermione's whisper. He barely registered what she said to him, electricity running up his spine. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice what she was doing to him, and so he took a deep breath and held up his hands in defeat.

"Ok, ok, I'll do it."

The crowd let out a cheer and parted to let Harry through on his way to the dueling arena. He was growing increasingly nervous as he walked towards his spot adjacent to an already waiting Flitwick. Ron's magically amplified voice carried throughout the arena once Harry was in place.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the third annual opening duel of the Hogwarts Dueling Club is about to begin. Contestants, please remember that any use of lethal spells will result in instant disqualification. Now, let's have a good fight. BEGIN!"

Harry and Flitwick burst out in a flurry of movement. Neither one was in one place for long enough o really be seen, in fact, the only evidence of the fact that they had occupied space in that area was the eruption of spells.

Harry was in shock. He felt as if time had slowed down. He was sure that they were moving incredibly fast, but somehow he was able to keep track of all of Flitwicks movements. The most incredible change to Harry, though, was just how in tune he felt with his magic. He didn't have to say a single word, it just responded how he wanted. He didn't feel like he was forcing it through his wand, rather, he was working with his magic to weave the fabric of reality to his liking. It was an amazing feeling, though he was greatly puzzled about how this ability had come to him.

When Flitwick and Harry finally slowed down enough to be seen, the arena was falling to pieces. Harry sent a flurry of stunners and disarming spells at Flitwick, who conjured a shield that deflected them all away before responding in kind. Harry spun out of the way, transfiguring some of the rubble at his feet into a flock of ravens and sent them at the professor, who turned them all into harmless raindrops before creating a snowstorm to engulf Harry, who created a massive ring of fire around himself that melted any snow that tried to get near him, but it was enough of a distraction for one of the volley of half a dozen disarming spells to just catch Harry on the shoulder, sending his wand flying. Harry leapt out of the way of the ropes Flitwick sent flying his way. He almost made it to his wand before a second set of ropes had him completely bound and immobile. People started cheering, but Harry wasn't done yet. A magical glow enveloped Harry, and when he appeared again, the ropes were gone, and a blue beam erupted from Harry's hand, striking Flitwick in the chest, disarming him. Both men wandlessly summoned their wands to them and turned to point their wand at their opponent. The froze when they realized that each had their own wand to the other's forehead. The match was a draw. The entire arena was engulfed in a deafening silence before they erupted in cheers. In the moments before the crowds arrived in arena from the stands Professor Flitwick lowered his wand and smiled.

"That was spectacular Harry, where did you learn to do that?

"I honestly don't know sir, I mostly just reacted."

"Well, that was nothing short of amazing," Flitwick's brow furrowed, "Would be able to meet with me later this week Harry? I believe that you and I can get some special training in. Not many people would have been able to do what you did to me, and none of them were your age."

"Sure Professor, I can do that."

Flitwick beamed, "Great! Now, if you will excuse me, I am going back to my office, I am not as young as I used to be."

Harry nodded and moved out of the way as Flitwick made his way to the door. The rest of the Club arrived and were clapping Harry on the back and offering him congratulations . Harry's eyes were searching for a particular pair of chocolate eyes, and he found them hanging back from the crowd. They were practically glowing as their gazes met. Harry had to work to tear his eyes from hers as he turned to the rest of the crowd with his arms raised, trying to get them to calm down.

"Ok, ok everyone, let's settle down. Let's get to practice," There was a shudder as the Room repaired the nearly destroyed arena, "Everyone pair up, and let's practice some simple dodging, disarming and shielding for review. I need a moment to freshen up and then I will walk around and help out."

Harry didn't stick around and see that his orders were being carried out, he just knew they were. He was in desperate need of a shower. He was covered in dirt and sweat from the duel, and he couldn't teach everybody covered in grime. After a quick shower and a fresh pair of clothes brought to him by Dobby, Harry took a moment to watch everyone from up in the stands. There were about two dozen pairs working around the very spacious arena floor. Ron and Draco were heatedly going at it, though Draco constantly got the better of Ron, Fred and George were busy causing the wands of the pairs around them to fly all over the place at random moments, Ginny and Luna were laughing and having a good time as they practiced their spells, and Hermione and Neville were off to one side, casually practicing, Neville's face screwed up in concentration. The boy had gotten better and better after each year, and the strong warrior was slowly coming out of his shell. Hermione was fine with the disarmers, but couldn't seem to get the shield charm.

Harry moved down and worked with the the individuals. Hermione watched out of the corner of her eye, seeing that Harry was incredibly patient when working with an individual, and he never failed to get his student to achieve whatever spell they were trying to cast. Her heart fluttered as she watched him. She was caught off guard and felt her wand being thrown out of her hand as Neville hit her with a disarming spell. He cried out in joy, before summoning her wand and handing it back to her.

When Harry finally made his way over to her, as she was still having difficulty keeping her shield charm up for any length of time, almost everyone had left save for Ron and Draco, and they were busy ribbing each other over by the fireplace, eating some of the left over food from the party. She was so concentrated that she didn't hear him walk over to her.

"You know, I think you might actually be trying too hard," Harry said, once again making her jump.

"Harry! You have got to stop doing that!" Hermione scolded, even as a small smile stole it's way across her lips.

"I can't help it if you are not paying attention to what's going on around you. But seriously though, you seem like you might actually be trying to hard."

"What do you mean? How can you try to hard? To cast the spell you just have to focus…"

"Hermione, magic is not just about thinking it, it's about feeling it too. You have to work with your magic, not just force it."

Hermione's facial features turned thoughtful as she tried to comprehend what Harry was telling her. Harry walked behind her and placed his hand over hers, wrapping his other arm around her waist.

"Now, raise your wand, take a deep breath, and try and feel your magic that is inside you. It's just there waiting to work with you. It holds all the power, you give it a direction."

Hermione focused on what Harry was saying, doing her best to ignore how his breathing in her ear was making her feel, and tried to feel her magic. She thought there was something there, just below the surface. She took a deep breath and softly spoke the spell. A shimmering silvery shield erected itself around the two of them. Hermione stood there, marveling that she was the one who created this, and that it finally stayed up. Now she could really feel the magic working through her, forming itself to her wishes. When she finally let the shield drop, she stood there, marveling in the feel of her magic.

"Wow," she breathed, "that was amazing."

"It's something I only recently found out about, and only really got a chance to test against Flitwick today. It makes casting so much…. More."

Hermione turned to face Harry, slowly enough that Harry's hand remained wrapped around her waist, and was soon joined by his other hand. She slowly wrapper her own arms around his neck and they just stood there, just getting lost in each other's eyes. How much time passed they didn't know, they were content to just stand there in their embrace. Neither knew what caused them to slowly move together, but Harry leaned down to Hermione and Hermione stood on her toes and their lips met.

Harry was in heaven. Her lips were incredibly soft, and she had such a unique taste that he was sure that could never have his fill of. As they kissed her body molded against his in such a perfect fashion. He was starting to wonder where she had been all of his life. How could a kiss be so amazing? It just didn't seem possible.

Hermione was in her own piece of heaven. She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer, trying to get her fill of something that she seemed to know she could never get enough of. She had only kissed one of boy in her life, and she was eleven and it certainly didn't feel anything like this. There was something about kissing Harry that just seemed so perfect.

Neither of them saw that Ron and Draco had noticed the two of them and had discreetly left the room, leaving them on their own in an effort to not interrupt their moment. There were going to a large group of females who were about to be very angry at the new girl. Harry Potter was off the market, whether he knew it or not.

A/N:

Katesmom2: As much as Draco was an evil person in the canon, I have always wondered how he could be portrayed if he had renounced his father and the Death Eaters, hence his position in this story

Dark Neko 4000: Only time will tell what happens next


	4. Seeing Red

A/N: I should point out (mild spoiler alert!) that in this chapter I portray Ginny as a shallow, fame seeker who is only concerned about her hopes and dreams. If there are any of you who don't like to read about Ginny acting in such a manner, well, I would advise not reading this chapter, or at least not putting that particular statement in the reviews.

As always, everything having to do with the canon HP story is owned by JK Rowling. Everything else, well, that IS mine

_Oct 31, 2011_

The great hall was dressed up in all its Halloween glory. Besides the thousands of floating candles there were carved pumpkins every few feet on every table, plenty of false bats and spiders littered everywhere and no end to the pumpkin juice and pie. It was always a feast that every student looked forward to.

Everyone in Harry's group was enjoying themselves immensely. Ron was constantly teased about how much food he was eating and how fast he seemed to be able to shove it into his mouth. He was also teased about his fear of spiders, be they real or fake. In fact, most of the teasing centered on the red-haired boy, except for Ginny's fascination with Harry. The entire meal she couldn't seem to take her eyes off Harry, except to throw the occasional dirty look at Hermione, who was sitting next to Harry.

Harry and Hermione hadn't really talked about that kiss they shared in the Room of Requirement, much to the well concealed chagrin of Ron and Draco, because they still had to deal with keeping the swarms of fan girls away from Harry, whom they knew would only be irritated with them for only seeing his fame. They just wanted the two to get their heads out of their arses and come to terms with the relationship they had. Fred and George had started a pool a month ago on when the two would realize that they should be in a relationship. But so far, nothing had happened. They were both still single, much to Ginny's delight.

Ginny had it in her head that she and Harry were meant to be together; from the first time that she heard that Ron had befriended him that day at the station. The events at the end of her first year, where she was saved from Memory-Riddle and the Basilisk, only served to cement the idea in her head. She had secretly nurtured this idea in her head for the next four years until she reached the idea that no one but her was good enough for Harry, as she would help him rise to the top of his potential while she enjoyed the party life of the high members of society. There was absolutely nothing to be lost from this union. It was absolute perfection. Therefore, when she had seen the Granger girl homing in on her territory she was appalled and immediately disliked her. She had no right to Harry. Their wedding was almost fully planned, but Granger had to come along and compete with her. Well, as far as she was concerned, when it came to Harry she wasn't holding back any punches.

After everyone had eaten their fill, the Headmaster stood up and raised his hands for attention, which was quickly given to him as the Great Hall became dead silent. Many in the hall already knew what he was going to announce.

"It is my pleasure to announce, once again, that on December 15th we will hold our fifth annual Christmas Ball. All students and their families are invited and encouraged to attend. The Hogwarts Express will depart the morning after the party for the holidays. Now, since all of you have been fed and watered in another wonderful feast, please feel free to make your way back to your dormitories for the night, and enjoy a day off classes tomorrow, a gift from the Hogwarts Staff to you."

Cheers erupted in the Great Hall at the announcement that classes were cancelled tomorrow. No one had been expecting that the staff would actually consider giving the students a break from classes, simply because it was Halloween. While the mood during the feast had been happy to begin with, it was nothing compared to the euphoria that now occupied the Hall. Many students had already begun planning what they were going to do with their free day off, not to mention that tomorrow was a Friday so that gave them a longer weekend. Many were planning parties for tonight, seeing as they didn't have to get up in the morning for class. Some of the girls were planning on doing their dress shopping for the Christmas Ball that weekend. There were less than a dozen, even amongst the Ravenclaws, who planned to use that extra day for homework. Up at the staff table, a pair of twinkling blue eyes were focused on a certain set of young Gryffindors. He had heard how the boy had come back from behind and dueled Professor Flitwick to a standstill. The number of interested parties who wanted to join the Dueling Club had sky-rocketed, but unfortunately first years were not allowed to join, and the Heads of House had found themselves having to turn down a number of first years who were eager to join up. While Harry may not know where the unexpected power and ability came from Dumbledore had a pretty good idea, and that it had to do with a certain brown-eyed young woman. He made a decision to talk to young Harry just after Christmas Break, as they had a number of things to discuss, and hopefully by then, Harry and Hermione would have figured out what they meant to each other.

Right of Passage

_Nov 17, 1995_

Just over two weeks had passed since the announcement of the Christmas Ball and the school was descending into chaos. Everywhere you went young men and women were getting up the courage to find their prospective dates, and then working up more courage to simply ask them. More than one girl fainted when her dream boy said yes, and it was rare for the Hospital Wing not to have at least three people in its beds due to both acceptance and rejection of such proposals.

Harry, Ron and Draco had been avoiding most of the girls for those two weeks, with only partial success, as they had each been approached a couple of times by girls from all years. Hermione had told them that they had been dubbed the "Gryffindor Golden Boys" and there was a galleon collection going around that would be awarded to the three girls who managed to get them as their dates. It had all three of them resorting to invisibility cloaks and disillusionment charms whenever possible, and checking their food before they ate it for any trace of love potions.

The three boys plopped themselves down at the Gryffindor table for dinner that night and, after checking their food repeatedly, began eating as fast as they could so that they could get out of there before being bombarded with questions. Hermione and Ginny just watched them with small smirks on their faces.

"Now boys," Ginny teased, "This isn't a race, take a moment to enjoy your food before shoving it down those hosepipes your call your mouths."

Draco scoffed at her in between bites of potatoes, "Easy for you to say, you don't have to fear for you life every time you go out in public," he snorted, "Gryffindor Golden Trio indeed, that's just ridiculous."

Ron mumbled something in agreement, but his mouth was still full of food, causing every word to come out as unintelligible gibberish, and he was ignored as a result. He just shrugged and continued eating. Ginny propped her face on her hands with her elbows on the table and scooted down the bench to sit directly across from Harry.

"You know, you could just find someone to ask, that way you could honestly say you were taken, isn't that right Harry?"

Harry choked on his piece of chicken and had to smack himself in the chest a few times before it dislodged from his throat. After getting some air, he downed his glass of pumpkin juice and turned to Ginny, "What did you say?"

Ginny's smile grew wider and she tried to portray herself as an innocent teenager, "I just said, you should find someone to go to the Ball with, and then you wouldn't have to worry about all this. Just pick someone you have known for a while."

Ginny's attention was totally focused on Harry, so she missed the narrowed eyes of Draco as he caught on to what Ginny was trying to get Harry to do. Beside Ginny, Hermione had stopped eating, her brain running at a mile a minute. She had been hoping that Harry would ask her to Ball, but it hadn't happened yet, and as he and the other two boys were avoiding being out in public, she hadn't seen him much outside of class for the last two weeks. She felt a pang of something in her chest, and had to think about it for a second.

_Am I jealous? Why would I be jealous? Harry has every right to go with Ginny, besides, look at Ginny, she is gorgeous, with that flowing red hair and amazing body. How am I supposed to compete with that? Sure we kissed, but that doesn't necessarily entitle me to him. I don't have her looks or her courage._ She sighed inwardly, knowing that while she may have wanted to go to the dance with Harry, she didn't have the courage to ask him, and figured he wouldn't ask her out.

Harry was still trying to comprehend what Ginny was saying to him. Did she want him to ask her out? He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He had been trying to avoid going at all, and just try and hang out with Ron and Draco, but the boys had talked him out of that one, saying that he was nutters if he didn't go. But that didn't mean that he had to find a date right now, did it? Harry wished that he could just disappear. Fortunately, Draco knew what Ginny was really up to, and stepped in.

"I am sure we will find someone at some point. Just give us some time. Now, if you will excuse us, we have homework to get done, in a place where nobody can find us."

Harry nodded furiously, grabbing his bag in one hand and Ron in the other, who was still trying to eat, but gave it up when Draco grabbed him from the other side. He would just have to go and knick some food from the kitchens later tonight, when it was safe. Without another word, the three boys disappeared, leaving Ginny with Hermione. Ginny slumped back down and had a frown on her face. She didn't even bother acknowledging Hermione when she got up and left. She would get Harry to ask her if it was the last thing she did.

Right of Passage

_Nov 19, 1995_

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco all had a free period that afternoon and were holed up in a little used corner of the library trying to catch up on some homework. The boys had so much to do, what with Harry having prefect duties and all three of them being on the Quidditch team, they needed to get their homework done at some point. The only teacher who seemed to have some mercy on the was Professor McGonagall, who had pulled them aside after their class today and hinted about how their time could be used more productively, and that she greatly enjoyed seeing the Quidditch cup in her office, hoping that it would stay there for a long time. None of the boys missed her hints, and so were frantically working to get their homework done before practice this afternoon. Hermione had graciously offered to look over the boys' homework once they were done to check for any mistakes that they could correct later. She refused to correct the mistakes for them, telling them they would never learn otherwise. So she would just point them out and get them to fix it on their own. She understood their love of Quidditch by now, but thought it was a little silly that they were letting it get in the way of their homework. The three boys had given up trying to convince her, and had since taken to muttering about how she was a hopeless case after the night that they had stayed up for hours trying to argue with her about it.

Ron and Draco had taken off a few minutes earlier, stating about having to get some stuff from their dorm room, leaving Harry and Hermione in the library. There was a short, awkward silence between them before they heard a familiar voice call out quietly to them.

"Hey Harry," Ginny said brightly before turning to Hermione and greeting her in a much less friendly manner. Harry was too busy finishing up his essay to notice, and Hermione worked hard to not let the hurt show on her face.

"Hey Ginny, sorry, I don't have much time, got to get to Quidditch practice. In fact, shouldn't that be where you should be headed?" Harry looked at her questioningly.

"Yeah, I was going to head down in a few minutes, I just wanted to take out a book before I left. I was just curious to know if you had found a date for the Ball yet."

Harry looked at her quickly before packing up his things, "Nope, not yet, but I will. Anyways," he grabbed his stuff and made for the library doors, "I have to go, see you down at the pitch." With that, he took off. Something in him knew that he just didn't want to go with Ginny to that Ball.

Ginny watched him leave and turned to Hermione with a furious expression on her face. "I don't know what you have done to Harry, but you better leave him alone. He is my date for the Christmas Ball, and I will not have some know-it-all girl taking him from me. His fame and my looks make us the perfect combination, so butt out you bushy-haired bookworm." Ginny turned and stormed out of the library, furious that Harry had once again turned her down.

Hermione sat at the table, trying furiously not to cry at what Ginny had just said to her. She sounded just like all the other girls in primary school. They had teased her about her hair, and her teeth, though she had gotten those fixed thanks to her parents, and had called her a know it all who would never have any real friends. It just wasn't fair. It's not like she had tried to get Harry, they just seemed to come to each other. Ginny had no right to act like that.

By now the tears were flowing full force down her face. She wiped them away with her sleeve, before packing up her things and leaving the library too. She needed somewhere to be alone, where she could just get away from it all. Maybe coming to Hogwarts was a mistake after all.

Right of Passage

_Nov 25, 1995_

Harry walked into Charms class with a huff and sat down next to Hermione, Ron, and Draco. His attitude escaped none of them, and they sat waiting for him to let it out. It didn't take long.

"Geez Ron, what is up with your sister? I can't seem to walk down the halls without her ambushing me about the Ball."

Harry had figured out he didn't want to go with Ginny, but Ginny kept popping up wherever he went, constantly asking if he had a date for the Ball yet. She had even shown up at the door to Flitwicks classroom just before this Charms class and Harry had been hard pressed to turn her down politely with vague answers about how he didn't have a date yet, but that he would start looking soon.

"Why don't you just tell you her don't want to go with her and be done with it. That's all she is trying to do." Ron replied, rolling his eyes as if that was the most obvious thing to do.

"I know, but I don't have the heart to just drop her with an outright no, but she doesn't seem to get the hints I am giving her. She just keeps coming back. She doesn't get the fact that I don't want to go with her"

Unbeknownst to the boys, Hermione's heart had taken to the clouds when she heard that Harry didn't want to go with Ginny. If Harry didn't go with Ginny, then maybe there was still hope that he would ask her after all. I mean, what other girls did he hang out with?

She spent the rest of the day in a euphoric stupor. Not even Ginny's snarky comments about how she need to keep her hands of HER Harry could dampen her spirits. She didn't even have a bad word to say about the day's Quidditch game, a game she would happily attend, hoping against hope that Harry would ask her to the dance sometime soon, otherwise she would find the courage to ask him herself.

Down in the Gryffindor locker rooms, Alicia was going through her pre-game speech. Fred, George, and Harry looked at each other and rolled their eyes. It was nearly identical to Wood's speech, with a few mentions of Hufflepuff's tactics and how they needed to work as a time. Harry just shook his head. No offense to Hufflepuff but this was going to be a cake walk. Sure, they were okay but their team just wasn't up to snuff with all the effort Gryffindor had been putting in. Alicia had gone nuts with the practices, booking the pitch for every available moment, and had drilled them all hard. As a result, there was hardly a time when the team came back to their dorm tired and sore. All the effort was going to pay off now, though, as they marched onto the pitch amidst the roars of their fellow students.

After a quick handshake by the team captains, supervised by Madam Hooch, the teams kicked off the ground, and Madam Hooch released the bludgers and the snitch which quickly disappeared into the sky. Bringing the Quaffle out to centre pitch, she threw it up into the air and blew her whistle. The game had begun.

The Gryffindor chasers exploded, and within a matter of seconds put the Quaffle through the right hoop, putting their team on the scoreboard. Ginny, Alicia and Draco were a force to be reckoned with on the pitch. They quickly put another 20 points up on the scoreboard before Hufflepuff called a time out in order to regroup. Barely two minutes had passed and they were already down by 30. After a quick meeting, the game resumed, with Hufflepuff coming back more focused and in tune. The beaters also had to really focus on their game as the time passed, as the bludgers were wreaking havoc upon both teams chasers as they tried to pull of some more elaborate formations in order to throw off their defense. Harry was being tailed by the 'puff seeker, and Harry had no qualms about pulling some of the fancier dips, dives and turns in order to try and throw him off. Out of the two of them, it was obvious to everyone in the stadium that Harry was the better seeker.

An hour later the tension between both teams was rising to incredible levels. Neither team had gotten a lead that was larger than 30 points. The Chasers, Keepers and Beaters were working furiously in order to try and give their team some sort of advantage, but to no real avail. Whatever both teams were expecting when they first started playing today, this was not it. The players were exhausted, but were not willing to budge an inch.

Harry knew that eventually one team was going to start slipping up due to the exhaustion and while it was unlikely that it would be Gryffindor that would slip, he didn't want to risk it, and that meant that he needed to find the snitch. He was rocketing around the pitch as fast as his Firebolt would take him, searching for any flashes of gold that might signal the snitch.

Hermione was having a panic attack every time Harry raced by, bumped by the Hufflepuff seeker or when he dodged a bludger that was sent his way. She did, however, manage to catch his eye for the briefest for moments and she was sure that he winked at her. The feelings of joy in her chest rose up to the surface. She was sure today was going to be the day. Either he would make the move, or she would, but she knew that something special was on its way today. Nothing was going to stop that.

Ginny had just put them up by 20 when Harry finally saw it, all the way across the pitch at Gryffindor's hoops. He took off like a bullet, aiming straight for the snitch. The little golden ball had other ideas, and took off in a random zigzag pattern across the field, with both seekers following close behind. Up and down the pitch they chased it, weaving through their teammates, the stands and through the clouds as they chased the snitch through the skies. From over two thousand feet up the snitch suddenly dropped straight down, forcing the two to dive. At break neck speeds they plummeted, neither giving the other any room to maneuver. Harry saw a flash of black in his periphrial vision and swerved in order to avoid being hit by the bludger, forcing him behind the Hufflepuff seeker. Harry knew his broom was faster, but with his opponent in front of him, the speed would do him no good. In a daring move, Harry flipped himself upside down and flew over the top of the other seeker, pulling even. As they reached the ground the snitch flew about a foot off the ground. Harry was still upside down and positioned above the Hufflepuff seeker. Harry could think of only one thing to do. Pushing himself ahead of the Hufflepuff seeker and dropped off his broom, and as he fell the five feet to the ground closed his hand around the little golden ball, landing flat on his back as his opponent raced over him. Harry was sure that he had just barely avoided getting one of his appendages torn off. As it is he probably had a concussion, but none of that mattered to him. He had caught the snitch and brought another victory to his team.

The crowds were up out of their seats as they cheered and roared. Everyone who was supporting Gryffindor, with the exception of the staff, raced down to the pitch. Harry was bombarded by his team mates on that spectacular catch. Fred, George, Ron and Draco all pounded him on the back, while Alicia just shouted at him with tears streaming down her eyes. It was Ginny who caught him totally off guard. She nearly flew into him, jumping off her broom and wrapping her arms around him, locking her lips with his.

Harry was in shock. What possessed Ginny to think that Harry had actually wanted to kiss her? He was frozen in place, as his body didn't seem to want to respond, and Ginny just wouldn't let go. As if that wasn't bad enough, the rest of the crowd was silent as they watched. It was then that Harry found a particular set of brown eyes, eyes that were slowly filling with tears. Before Harry would react, Hermione tore herself away from the crowd, making her way back up to the castle.

Harry finally regained control of his limbs. He wrapped his hands around Ginny's arms and pried her off him. She was looking at him with what she must have thought was a seductive look, but it just infuriated Harry all the more.

"Ginny? What the hell are you doing?" Harry was practically shouting, even though he stood right next to her.

"What do you mean, Harry? Don't you want me?" Ginny's face was putting on a marvelous show, with the slowly wobbling lip and her eyes starting to glisten.

"Want you? What would ever give you that idea?"

"You and I were meant to be Harry, your fame and my social ability. We would make the perfect couple. Besides, your mom was a red-head and the Potter love of red heads is famous. All the more reason for us to be together. Ever since you saved me in my first year, it was just meant to be."

"Wha…..?" Harry was stunned for the second time in as many moments. "How does any of that mean that we were meant to be together?"

Ginny's face was going red, a sure sign that the famous Weasley temper was about to burst, and the surrounding crowd was slowly working its way back in an effort to get away from the blast area. She spoke very slowly, and the ice was clear in her voice

"Harry, you and I will be going to the ball together, and then you and I will be heading back to the Burrow where we will be happily together for the rest of our lives."

Not only was Harry not affected by anything Ginny said, or the way she said it, but he actually started to laugh. Whatever the crowd was expecting, this was not it. Ginny Weasley was well known for getting her way, and here Harry was laughing in her face. Said Weasley walked over to Harry and pulled back her arm to slap Harry. No one laughed at her. She never made contact, as Harry's well trained reflexes caught her hand in mid-swing. His laughter vanished instantly, and there was a fire in his eyes. Gone was amicable Harry, the one that people loved, the mild and innocent young man who simply worked for all his friends out of loyalty and bravery. Gone was the easy-going student who loved to spend his time out on the pitch or sitting in the Great Hall having a good time. Here was the warrior that was hidden deep inside, the one who battled giant snakes, spiders, killers, dragons, master duelists, and even Voldemort himself. The magic was palpable in the air as Harry's green eyes started to glow with power. The voice that spoke to Ginny was of pure power.

"You and I will never be, Ginny," he said, pulling her hand down and releasing it, "I don't know what childish dreams you have been treating yourself too, but they are all false. For all the years I have known you, you have only seen my fame, something that I have detested. I had hoped that you might grow up after all these years, but apparently my hope was in vain. We may have had a chance later in life Ginny, but it is gone now."

Without any further words to her, Harry turned and hopped back on his broom, flying out after the brown-eyed girl who had left in tears. Ginny stood there, her life's dreams crashing around her. Salt was poured on the wound when Alicia walked up to her.

"You can consider yourself officially off the team Ginevra. I need people who are fully grounded and have grown up a little. Clearly you are not that."

Alicia left Ginny to sink to the ground, heading back to the changing room. The crowd was heading back up to the castle, with Draco simply looking at her in disgust before joining Alicia on the way to the locker room. Fred, George and Ron all just stood there looking at her before Ron walked up and put a hand on his crying sister's shoulder and knelt down in front of her.

"Ginny…" he started, slowly and in a calm voice.

"Don't touch me!" she snarled back, jerking out of Ron's reach, "You didn't even stand up for me when Harry said that. None of you did!" she glared at all three of her brothers, "You just let Harry walk all over me and ruin my dreams without even saying a word. I thought we were family." The tears were back as she slumped to the ground once again.

"Ginny, what has gotten into you?" Ron asked, "What would possess you to treat Harry that way. After all those years of knowing him, haven't you seen already that Harry absolutely hates the Boy-Who-Lived and everything that goes along with it? I thought you would have figured out by now that a sure fire way to make Harry angry was to say that you love his fame and want to be part of it. Harry would give it all away just to have his dad back." Ron shook his head, "And what is this nonsense about him ruining your dreams. What about his? Did you ever stop to consider what his dreams might be? It's clear that you haven't put much thought, if any, into that. I know for a fact that Harry dreams of settling down and having a family, doing his best to try and disappear from anything that might make him stand out for anything other than what he has deserved."

Fred and George were both shocked and in totally agreement with their younger brother. It wasn't often that Ron displayed such depth and insight, and every time he did, it gave them hope that he wasn't a total basket case.

Ginny, however, was letting her anger get the best of her, and she jumped up and walked up to Ron until she was inches from his face. "What would you know about that? You can't even get a decent date. Ha, you're just the bumbling sidekick of the Boy-Who-Lived."

Ron's face was now nearly as red as Ginny's, and he was about to respond with shouts before Fred and George each placed a hand on his arms. Ron took a couple of calming breaths before looking his sister in the eye with such an intense look that she took a step back.

"Whatever I may be _Ginevra_," he said, stressing her name, "I know my friends and family better than to strike out at them in anger, thus alienating them from me, and throwing a temper tantrum when I don't get my way. You have a lot to learn, and it looks like you will be doing that learning on your own. I hope that one day you will grow up from the simple fan-girl you are."

He turned on his heel and left Ginny standing there at a loss for words, with Fred and George following closely behind. He hated to do that to his sister, but it needed to be done. Hopefully she might learn something from it. If only that were the case.

Right of Passage

In another part of the castle, Harry was flying around as fast as possible looking for the brunette colored hair that was Hermione's. He finally saw her in the front courtyard, and he dove to catch up with her. She was still crying as she ran to the doors.

"Hermione!"

She totally ignored him as she made her way through the doors and ran up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. Harry leapt off his broom and made his way after her. He knew why she was running, he just wished she would stop and listen to him for a second. Her finally caught her just outside the Gryffindor common room and grabbed her arms, turning her around.

"Will you stop for a second, please?"

Hermione looked up into Harry's eyes and amidst the tears Harry could see just how deep the level of hurt was.

"Why Harry? Has everything we have done been a lie? I know we haven't really talked about it, but actions speak louder than words. I thought we had something special Harry, but apparently I was wrong." The anger was now apparent in her voice as she continued, "Instead, you are off kissing Ginny, right in front of everyone. Doesn't matter what has passed between us, oh no, apparently Ginny is more important. What happened to all that dislike of Ginny? What about the fact that she annoyed you so much with her constant badgering about the Ball? Apparently nothing, seeing as you decided you want to suck her face off in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. Well screw you Harry Potter, I'm done with you."

Harry was frozen in place, and didn't have much time to react as Hermione drew her wand out and sent a stunning spell at him. She marched through the portrait hole and into her dorm room, where she warded her bed to make sure no one could come near her, and lie down and cried herself to sleep.

Right of Passage

So there you have it. Not only was Ginny only concerned for herself, but something has happened to Harry and Hermione's relationship. At this point, I want to thank all of you who have read and/and not reviewed. You have been great motivators to keep going. Please, keep up it. You guys are awesome! Let me know if I should include sneak peak's for upcoming chapters at all.


	5. Why Did I Say That?

A/N: So it came to my attention that I use Italics for a lot of things in my writing; thoughts, flashbacks and even the odd occasion of emphasis. If this gets too confusing, please let me know, and I will try and come up with some other methods. I just happen to like Italics a lot, certainly a whole lot better than bold text. Bolding just seems a little crude to me. But that is my writing style, and I hold nothing against anyone who does use bold text in their writing.

Also, I have had a lot of people add this story to their alerts and favorites list, and I love that a lot, I really do, however, I would appreciate so more reviews if you feel like giving them, they help keep me going!

As always, everything having to do with the canon HP story is owned by JK Rowling. Everything else, well, that IS mine

_Dec 1, 1995_

The Hogwarts library; normally a calm and collected place, filled with students in various stages of productivity, from those who excelled at their work, easily finishing up what was required of them and delving into the more abstract aspects of the magic they were learning, incidentally mostly from Ravenclaw, save a few. Then there were those who had proficiency to complete the work they were doing to an acceptable level. They are followed by those who struggle with their work, pouring through endless tomes just to find the one answer they need. A fourth group of students use the library not for personal work, but instead seek out its quiet and private nooks where they could meet with a special someone in an effort to show varying levels of affection.

Sadly, this was not the case today, for even the watchful eyes and imposing presence00 of Madam Pince could not stop the explosion of voices that occurred. Harry and Hermione were standing in the midst of a larger open area, books strewn all over the place, accompanied by quills, ink and parchment.

Hermione was red-faced as she looked furiously at Harry.

"You really expect me to believe this load of crap Harry? Are you actually trying to tell me that you and Ginny have nothing going on, because it certainly didn't look that way on the Quidditch Pitch. You looked like you were trying to suck her lungs out through her throat."

"Hermione, please, will you calm down and listen to what I am saying?" Harry pleaded with her, "This has just been a giant misunderstanding, and if you would actually listen to what I have to say, then maybe you would understand."

"Oh I understand quite well, Mr. Potter. I understand that this entire term you have been leading me on," Hermione's eyes began to fill with tears, "I don't know what could possess a person to treat another human being so horribly. I thought we had something between us, something special. Apparently not, considering you decided to throw it in my face that you would rather have Ginny over me!"

Madam Pince had come shuffling along, her eyes narrowed at the massive breach in library protocol, but it seemed that she was frozen to the spot, as the ambient magic of the two young magical had almost literally frozen everyone in place, forcing them to listen to their argument.

"Hermione, Ginny and I have never had anything between us, never! I don't know what was going through her mind after that game, but she and I will not end up together, under any circumstances. What happened at the pitch was completely out of my control."

"Well, it looks like Ginny and I have something in common, Harry, the fact that there was never something between us." Hermione was shaking with anger now, the tears flowing freely from her face, and her hair seemed to ripple with magical energy.

Harry flinched as though struck. Nothing between him and Hermione? Well, that was a bold faced lie. The two of them had grown rather close over the last few months, and Harry had fully planned on asking Hermione to the Ball with him, but now she wouldn't even give him the time of day to look at him, let alone hear what he had to say. This had been the first chance in two weeks that Harry had actually managed to get Hermione's attention, and here they were, in the middle of the library, having a full-blown shouting match in front of a whole group of students. Life really seemed to be out to get him. Just when he was starting to like his life, it threw in this lovely little twist, and now Harry was beginning to get a little angry himself. Worse yet, the news of their fight seemed to be spreading around the castle in record speed, and other students were showing up, including Ron, Draco and Ginny.

"What are you talking about Hermione? Nothing between us, I hardly think so. How about the time on the train? What about the time after the Dueling Club meeting? Do those mean nothing to you? What about the hours spent together just enjoying each other's company? Are you just going to throw that all away simply because you refuse to listen to the truth?"

"The truth?" Hermione screeched at him, her voice ripping through an octave and a half, pointing her finger in his face, "What do you know of the truth? I'm not the one who threw it all away; you are, when you decided to make out with another girl."

Hermione stopped, and took a few deep breaths, and when she spoke again, her voice was cold as ice and sharp as a steel sword. Unfortunately, they were words that she would regret for a long time down the road.

"What is your problem Harry? Is one girl not good enough for you? You have to go after them in bunches? It's all an act, isn't it, Harry? You like being the Boy-Who-Lived. It gives you a sense of entitlement. No, the great Harry Potter shouldn't be shackled by meaningful relationships when he can have any girl he wants, so why shouldn't he go after them?" She walked slowly up to Harry, standing with her face just inches from his. "You're nothing but an attention seeking fame-hound, who deserves nothing better than to be rejected for the rest of his life."

The entire library froze to the point where you could almost hear the dust swirling in the air. For those who had had the unfortunate luck to cross Harry before with similar words, you learned very quickly that you never, ever, called him an attention seeker, because it was true. There were countless people in varying stages of familiarity with Harry who would say that he was an incredibly humble boy who more often thought about the well-being of everyone else before his own. For the girl he had been interested in to come out and call him that, well, heaven help whoever stood in his way.

Harry himself looked like he had been hit with a load of bricks. He said nothing for a few moments, his eyes closed as he struggled to keep a lid on his ever rising temper. When his eyes finally flashed open, his emerald orbs were glowing with such intensity that no one could really hold his gaze, except Hermione. He had locked eyes with her, and she found herself incapable of tearing her eyes away from his. The amount of magic in the air increased, and many people found themselves running a little short of breath. When he spoke to Hermione, it was whisper quiet, but the magic in the air, coupled with the incredible silence, carried it long and far throughout the castle, and they were words that he, too, would regret for quite some time. The words were slow and controlled, taking every ounce of Harry's strength to keep them from becoming curses.

"Better an attention seeking fame-hound who knows the truth, than a bushy-haired know-it-all without friends who won't listen to what is being told to her."

There was silence for a few more moments, before Harry turned around and left the library, headed for his dorm room. He didn't even realize that he had broken out into a full out sprint as he raced through the hallways. It didn't even register with him that the fat-lady didn't ask him for a password, simply swinging forward to admit him as he raced up the stairs to his bed, pulled out his Firebolt and flew through the window, shattering the glass as he didn't bother opening the window, and took off straight up into the sky at top speed. How high he went, he didn't care, he just needed to get out of there.

Hermione was left standing in the library before she broke out into sobs, her face in her hands, and ran out of the castle. She, too, didn't care where she ended up; she just needed to be alone, away from not just Harry, but everyone. Her feet carried her down the stairs, through the main doors and out the front courtyard before working their way across the grounds. Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't care. This was officially the worst day of her life. As she came upon the shores of the lake, she sank to her knees at the foot of a tree, and just cried.

There was no one in the castle who didn't know about what had happened

Right of Passage

Harry had not bothered to open the window that he flew out of, leaving it so much shattered glass and broken wood framing. He tilted his broom straight up and took off into the sky, going higher and higher, wanting to get as far away as he could. He knew he had passed the castle's wards when his broom suddenly lurched forward, and what he had thought had been fast before paled in comparison to the speed he was doing now. He could have sworn that small pockets of fire were left behind in his journey through the clouds. Only when it became hard to breath did Harry level out, descending a touch so that his breathing would not come so hard. He couldn't tell just how high he was, but the castle and grounds looked incredibly small from where he was floating. He took a few moments to calm his breathing down, before casting a warming charm on his person so that he wouldn't freeze to death in the upper atmosphere.

His thoughts turned to the events of the last two weeks, including what had just transpired in the library. Harry was deeply hurt by what Hermione had said to him, even more so because he knew that it was so untrue, and that if she had stopped and listened to what he had said and believed it, that this would not have happened. It was just so unfair. He was still incredibly angry about it. In a fit of rage he snarled and threw his hand out towards the clouds that were near him. A pulse of lightening erupted from his outstretched hand, impacting on a nearby cloud, which evaporated instantly, the heat from the lightening was that intense. Again and again his hands flew out, and soon the clouds which had been so dense around him were gone, and the lightening flew further and further out. When Harry finally stopped, the sky around him for over a mile in any direction was completely clear. This had the added effect of giving him a wonderful view of the sky. It was ultimately that view that caused him to pause and clear his head. His anger was well spent, having been exhausted on the clouds and the bursts of power he had sent out. Now he could sit and think.

The last two weeks had been incredibly trying on the young man. After Hermione had left him standing there following the events of the Quidditch game, Harry had gone back to his room in an effort to straighten out his thoughts and hopefully give Hermione a chance to cool down and possibly think rationally. He knew that she was a level headed girl, and that when presented with the facts she would make the right decision. He hadn't counted on not getting the chance to present her with the facts.

_Flashback_

_Harry walked into the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning. He had been up all night, trying to find a way to best present this to Hermione. He didn't think it would be too hard, I mean, it's not like he wanted Ginny to kiss him, she just did. Surely once Hermione heard his story, she would realize that he didn't like Ginny, and then he would be able to finally get up his courage to ask her to the Ball. _

_But Hermione wasn't in the Great Hall that morning, which didn't faze Harry much. It was late in the morning, and she could have already come for breakfast. She had always been an early riser, even on weekends, while Harry did like to have a lie-in on Saturdays. So he ate his breakfast in silence for a while, before he was joined by Ron and Draco, who quickly went for the coffee. Harry just smiled. He refused to drink coffee as he didn't want to develop an addiction to caffeine. People called him weird for it, but whatever, he had been singled out for worse._

_After breakfast, Harry had gone to find Hermione, thinking she would either be in the library or in the common room doing homework. But she wasn't to be found in either of those places. He looked in all the usual locations that they had studied in, but couldn't seem to find her anywhere. On a whim, he even checked the Room of Requirement, but she was either hiding in it, or wasn't there, as the room was available for use. _

_The whole day he looked, and the only sign he saw of her was when he caught a glimpse of her hair as she made her way up to the girls' dormitory while he walked through the portrait hole. He didn't even get a chance to call her name before she was truly out of sight. Harry had slumped onto the couch next to Ron and Draco._

"_Where have you been all day mate?" Ron asked, "We've barely seen hide or hair of you all day. We were wondering if we should send out a search party."_

"_Nah, Ron, I have been out looking for Hermione all day."_

"_Oh, well you just missed her," Draco said, "She didn't say a word to us, but she looked dead beat so we figured she was just tired. I wouldn't worry about it. She'll talk to you when she's ready."_

"_I know that, but this is so stupid. It is not my fault that Ginny basically attacked me yesterday, and now I am paying the price for it."_

"_I told you before Harry, you need to head my sister off clean and clear before anything happens. The only way that she will get the hint is an outright statement, and even that can take a few tries."_

"_Oh sod off Ron, do you know how hard it is to say no to that woman. She looks all happy and cheery and when you even remotely turn her down she gets borderline depressed."_

_Ron raised his hands up at Harry's verbal attack, "Whoa, relax mate, I'm just telling it like it is, there's no need to go biting me in the arse."_

_Harry sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "I know Ron, and I am sorry, I shouldn't be taking this out on you. I am just worried at what Hermione is thinking, because she was sure angry at me yesterday when I caught up with her."_

"_You've got to give a woman a bit of time," Draco said, placing a hand on Harry's back, "She'll come around, I'm sure of it, and when she does, then you can tell her your side of the story."_

_Harry sighed again before getting up, "Thanks guys. Well, I'm bushed so I am going to head to bed. Night all."_

_Harry waved half-heartedly at his friends before making his way to the dorm. He had barely the energy to change out of his clothes before sinking into bed. He gully intended to go looking for Hermione again tomorrow. He needed to talk to her._

_However, Sunday turned out to be like Saturday, not a single sign of Hermione. He didn't really have time to look for her long; he had his homework to get to, so after around two hours of looking, he gave it up for the day, hoping he could maybe intercept her before she went to bed. That didn't work either, as she somehow managed to slip past him and make her way to bed. Either that or she just didn't stay in the dorm that night. Harry ended up falling asleep on one of the couches in the common room._

_When Monday rolled around, Harry figured he would finally get his chance to talk to her. They had three classes together today, and so he knew that he would see her there. He was right. She was in class. However, she wasn't paying any attention to him. She wouldn't look at him, she wouldn't talk to him. It was like he didn't exist in her world. In each class they shared, she was like this, completely ignoring his existence. She would arrive in the classroom at the latest possible moment, and would leave as fast as she could when class was over, leaving Harry with no chance to talk to her. She didn't sit with them at meal times, and usually ate as fast as she could, before bolting out of the Great Hall to wherever her hiding spot was, as Harry had yet been unable to find it. _

_The rest of the week had been much the same, and no matter where Harry looked, he couldn't find her outside of class and meal times. He even pulled out the Marauder's Map to look for her, but she wasn't there, so he assumed that she was hiding in the Room of Requirement, but no matter what combination of thoughts he tried, he could not get the room to open to her location. It was getting really irritating. Even the teachers had started noticing how Hermione seemed to be avoiding Harry. Not that they could really do anything about it, but it didn't stop them from noticing._

_Ron and Draco had tried to intercede for Harry on his behalf, because Hermione wasn't avoiding them like she was Harry, but after the first few tries she started avoiding them as well. She really could be invisible when she wanted to, and incredibly stubborn at that. Harry had finally managed to catch her coming out of the Great Hall, and when he had grabbed her arm to try and get her to talk to him she had hexed him. He had spent the next two days in the Hospital Wing for that._

_The next week could have been an exact duplicate of the first. Hermione would avoid him in classes and then disappear at night to the Room of Requirement. Harry was getting to the point where he wanted to blast the door to that damn room, but he didn't know what good that would do. The door was magical, so it would probably absorb all attempts to attack it. He didn't give up though and he had eventually cornered her in the library, which had led to that disastrous scene that most of the school had witnessed. _

_End Flashback_

Harry didn't know how things had plummeted so far in so short a time. One minute he and Hermione were expressing their, dare he say it, love for each other and the next they were fighting worse than a pair of struggling Horntails. They had struck each other really deep with their words, and he knew it. He had gone way out of line, hitting her where he knew it hurt, just as she had done to him. He knew that he would regret the way he had treated her for years to come, and that it just might throw a wrench in how much they trusted each other for a while. Harry leaned back on his broom as he thought about all of this. He still had every idea of getting Hermione to see the truth, he was just unsure of how to do it. They had dealt some massive blows to each other, and he had no idea how to even approach her now, let alone apologize for it.

He was shaken from his thoughts as a feeling of cold fear gripped his heart. He didn't know where it came from, all he knew was that Hermione was in grave danger, and he took off in a high speed dive. That's when he heard the voice in his head.

"_Oh God, somebody help me please. Harry! I need you!"_

Right of Passage

Hermione was sitting in the shade of the tree she had collapsed by earlier, her legs tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs, slowly rocking back and forth. The tears had never really stopped, although the sobs had. She really wanted to believe what Harry had told her, but she knew what she had seen. Harry and kissed Ginny and Ginny had kissed Harry. She was sure of it. He had said that she had basically attacked him with that kiss, but it certainly didn't look like it. He looked like he had enjoyed it an awful lot.

_Flashback_

"_Well screw you Harry Potter, I'm done with you."_

_She sent a stunner at him, not even waiting to see if it hit him. She just needed to get away from him, away from Ginny, away from it all. It wasn't fair. After all these years she finally thought that Harry was someone she could open up to, only to have it thrown in her face. When she made it to the bed she put up a set of wards that would guarantee her privacy before the night and cried and cried until the tears just wouldn't flow anymore and she fell asleep, exhausted._

_The next morning she was up at the crack of dawn, heading down to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast. She was going to avoid Harry, and she knew just how to do it. The Room of Requirement. Harry had told her that it would provide whatever a person needed, and right now, she needed a place where she could hide from him. She spent pretty much the entire weekend in that room, and by the time she went to bed Sunday night, she was feeling a little stronger about her conviction to avoid Harry, no matter the cost._

_That was easier said than done, though. From the first time she saw Harry in class till the time she managed to get away that night, she was on the verge of breaking out in tears. It was affecting everything. Her spell work was below par, her essays were constantly marked with tears, and she had a hard time paying attention to anything her professors said. When she did make it back to the room that evening, she curled up in a couch by the fire that the room had provided and cried for nearly an hour before she had the strength to get up and do her homework._

_The rest of the week was just like that, and he nearly caught her coming out of the Great Hall that first weekend, but she had hexed him good. She regretted it later on, especially when she heard that she had sent him to the hospital wing. She had never intended to hurt him like that, just make him leave her alone. She had cried for extra long that night, but her resolve did not slip. She still didn't want to have anything to do with him._

_Then Ron and Draco had tried to talk to her. She had been happy when they had approached initially, but when she found out that they wanted to talk to her about Harry, she had turned and left. The next time, they waited until they were situated to bring the topic of Harry up. She was furious with them. Couldn't they see that she wanted nothing to do with him?_

_The next week was similar, though she found herself venturing out from the Room of Requirement more often. She had had to leave for food, as the Room didn't provide that, but more often than not she had spent the night there. Now she found herself wandering around the castle more and more once her homework was done. She even dared a trip to the library or two. That had been her biggest mistake. He had found her in the library_

_End Flashback_

He had found her, and they had fought. He had told her what his version of the event was, and part of her heart soared when she heard his tale, and part of her heart had hardened against him. She knew what she had seen, and there was little that could be done to dispute that.

_But what if you are interpreting the events wrong?_ She thought, _Harry's version fits in just right to what you saw._

Her brain was right, his version of events did fit in, but she had refused to see it. She was so sure that he had kissed Ginny back that she had refused to see it any other way. He had tried for two weeks to get her to see it, but she had rebuffed him at every turn. Then there was the fight. That awful, awful fight, where they had said those…. those things. She knew that those words she had said would haunt him forever, tainting anything that they might have had. She knew he would always wonder what she truly thought of him. The memory of those words brought fresh tears and sobs to Hermione, and she tucked her head in her knees. It was hopeless. She had single handedly ruined whatever relationship might have come her way, and she had no one to blame but herself.

Hermione was caught up in her tears, and she didn't see the lone figure make its way to her, wand drawn and pointed straight at her. She had no warning when a spell shot her way.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The spell hit Hermione in the back, and immediately straightened out, her legs launching her in the air before locking together and she landed on her back hard. More tears sprang to her eyes in pain, but she couldn't use her arms to wipe them away as they were locked to her side. She was totally helpless as her mysterious attack levitated her towards the tree she had been sitting under, and when the spell ended she was precariously perched on the edge of the lake. If she fell over she would drown, for she couldn't move to swim. Her eyes sought out her attacker, standing about twenty feet away from her. She would recognize that red hair anywhere.

Ginny.

Ginny had her wand point right at Hermione's chest, an evil grin plastered across her face. This was her moment, and she knew it. She was in control, and there was no one around to take that control from her. Hermione's heart fell and she knew that whatever the girl had in store for her wasn't good, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

Ginny stared into Hermione's eyes, relishing the moment. She could see the fear in the other girl's eyes and she smiled. She had good reason to be afraid. She was going to get rid of Hermione today, so that Ginny could be with _her_ Harry and not have to worry about this stupid brunette who just arrived at the school taking him away. So what if Harry didn't want to be with her right now. A little bit of discretely planted love potion and the boy would be hers for the rest of forever. She would be rich and famous, and he would make her that way and no one would be the wiser. It was the perfect plan, one that she wouldn't let Hermione ruin if she had any say in it at all.

"So Granger, have you figured it out yet?" Ginny taunted. She wanted the girl to know that her death was near, and that she was helpless to do anything about it.

"You tried to take my future husband from me. That wasn't a very smart thing to do, you know. Nobody stands between me and what I want, and I want Harry. I wish I could say that I was sorry that you got in the way, but this will just help cement the idea in everyone's head that no one but me touches Harry, even if no one figures out where you disappeared to."

That was when it clicked in Hermione's head. She was going to die, and Ginny was going to get away with it too. She sent a pleading look through her eyes at Ginny, hoping the red-head would get the message. She didn't want to die.

Ginny did, indeed, get the message but there was no mercy in her heart. Anyone who came between her and Harry had to be permanently disposed of. That was the way things worked. Her smile only got bigger as she continued to taunt Hermione.

"Let's inform you of your death, shall we. It's really simple, actually. I plan to simply knock you over into the lake, and your own clothes should get wet enough to drag you down to the bottom, where you will never be found. Your body will probably be eaten by the squid and no one will know what happened to you."

There was an evil glint in Ginny's eyes as she finished by saying, "Your life is over Hermione Granger. No one deserves to be with Harry Potter except for me."

Ginny cast a simple banishing spell that would knock Hermione over into the lake. A streak of blue light tore its way across the short distance towards Hermione.

It was all Hermione could do to cry out in her head.

"_Oh God, somebody help me please. Harry! I need you!"_

Right of Passage

A/N: So I only had one person comment on my possible upcoming chapter hints, and it was a positive comment, so I will look to include those hints at the end of every chapter. This chapter's hint involves a heart to heart talk and some well deserved relief. Speculate what you would like about the hint, you can even review about it if you would like, and then we can see if you are right when the next chapter comes. Also, before any of you get on my case for Ginny being too out there to even try and take a life, let me give you the hint that someone's influence is still there…. In her head…..

NiebieskiLis also pointed out some points in my story that were supposed to be secret that I missed. Thanks! They have been changed!


	6. Dance With Me

A/N: So, I have a very bad habit of being distracted by the fanfictions of my fellow writers, which in turn, causes me to spend a little less time writing that I would like, but I suppose in the end, it helps me, as I learn more about what readers like, and how to avoid some simple grammar and spelling mistakes that plague us all. So I would like to thank all of you for your patience as I continue on writing this. This is my first fan fiction, so it is taking a little bit of effort to get into good writing time management, but I am slowly getting there. It helps that I found some awesome background music whilst digging through the game files of Civilization V and The Sims 3.

The quoted chapter was taken from HP: GoF Chapter 23 and was adjusted just enough to fit my story.

As always, everything having to do with the canon HP story is owned by JK Rowling. Everything else, well, that IS mine

_Dec 1, 1995_

_Ginny cast a simple banishing spell that would knock Hermione over into the lake. A streak of blue light tore its way across the short distance towards Hermione._

_It was all Hermione could do to cry out in her head._

"Oh God, somebody help me please. Harry! I need you!"

Harry didn't care that he was thousands of feet in the air, or that a dive at this speed had never been successfully pulled out of so close to the ground. All he knew was that Hermione was in danger and that he needed to get to her as fast as possible. His own magic bled into the magic of the broom, pushing it faster than the creators had ever intended it to go.

The Firebolt was the pinnacle of broom creation, fulfilling many broom makers dreams when it was released. Each piece of wood was hand crafted with precision for the most aerodynamic flight possible. Each spell inlaid into the broom was of the highest quality the enchanters could create. You could say the broom bonded with its flyer, as it seemed to respond to a person's thoughts rather than their actions. But the most incredible thing about this broom was its acceleration and top speed. Designed to reach 150 mph in just under 10 seconds, it was easy to understand why the Firebolt was an international standard broom. Had the makers of the Firebolt seen what it pulled off in Harry Potter's capable hands, their jaws would have surely hit the floor.

When Harry pushed his broom into the dive, it took all of six seconds for the broom to go from a complete standstill to 185 mph. So great was the discharge of power that came from the broom and Harry that a small explosion occurred as soon as Harry moved. Harry had only one goal in mind, and that was to reach Hermione as quick as possible so that he could protect her. What good was his slowly realized love if it had no living object to focus it on?

As Harry dove, the clouds were quickly turning black, and a storm was brewing. Lightning flashed all around Harry, but he made no moves to avoid the electrical discharges, as the flashes didn't seem to want to hit him. Harry broke through the clouds with a small jet-trail behind him. As his eyes surveyed the area, they locked onto a small blue flash by the lake. Two figures stood just by the shore of the lake, and Harry watched as the blue flash connected with the person standing closer to the bank. Said person didn't even try to dodge it or deflect it, which he knew Hermione was more than capable of, which only increased Harry's dread. How he knew that it was Hermione by the lake, he would never figure out, he just knew, and he also knew at that point that whoever cast the spell at Hermione had already got the jump on her, as there was no visible reaction.

Hermione's eyes closed as the beam of blue light hit her in the chest, sending her flying backwards in an almost graceful motion. The banishing charm was sent with just enough power to cause her to fly out about a hundred yards over the surface of the lake before hitting the water. She knew this was it for her, she was done for. She didn't know what possessed Ginny to cause her to be so violent. She remembered hearing stories about how she had actually been possessed back in her first year, so maybe that had something to do with it. It didn't matter now. What's done was done, and Hermione kept her eyes closed in preparation of hitting the lakes surface.

Harry watched Hermione's body fly out over the lake. Time seemed to slow for him. Space seemed to stretch before his very eyes, bringing him closer, yet farther away, from her. Harry's grip tightened on his broom handle as he willed himself to go faster, if it was even possible. He got closer and closer to her, and he could see her face, her eyes closed. Stretching out his hand, he reworked the fabric of reality to his liking with the help of his magic. Whatever charms were holding Hermione captive were instantly cancelled. Just as she was about to break the surface of the water, Harry caught her, tucking her safely between his arms as he rocketed away from that place as fast as he could, shooting up into the sky where it would just be the two of them, and she would be out of harm's way, and in his arms, where they both knew, albeit subconsciously for the moment, that she belonged.

The fall into the water that Hermione was expecting never came. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, but the impact never came. She felt the magic that was keeping her helpless fall and she opened her eyes to the sweetest sight she had ever seen in her life. Harry had her tucked between his arms, and they were flying away from the school at high speed. His face was the picture of determination, and his eyes, oh Merlin, his eyes were filled with a mixture of caring, determination and what she could only describe as love. When they finally slowed his eyes finally met hers and nothing seemed to matter anymore. Her body relaxed as relief coursed through her. She wasn't going to die! She wrapped her arms around him and cried unashamedly into his chest as they kept flying, although at a much slower pace. She had come that close to dying, and here he was; her own personal savior. She pulled herself back a little and looked at his face again. The tears in her eyes blurred everything around him, but as she looked at Harry, he was clear and sharp in her eyes, outlined by the sun that was behind them as he flew. It made him look heavenly.

Harry didn't stop the broom until they were well out of harm's way. They were hovering about a mile and a half above the lake, certainly high enough that no one could see them in the sky, and that anyone on the ground simply looked like black specks. He allowed himself to look around and exhaled a breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding. As Hermione tucked herself into his chest and started to cry he wrapped on arm possessively and protectively around her waist, assuring both of them that he was there for her. With the other arm he pulled the broom to a stop before wrapping it too around her. He felt her pull back gently and looked down at her.

Once again they were lost in the other's eyes. There were no words to describe the comfort and solace that they found there. They had their own little world, up there in the sky, that couldn't be threatened by anything. It was just them. Hermione still had tears in her eyes, which Harry gently wiped away using the pad of his thumb. His hand caressed her cheek as their gazes remained unmoving, and their faces slowly moved closer to each other. Inch by inch they moved until their lips met and all the pent up feelings they had for each other were released into that kiss. Anger, frustration, hurt, love, passion, care; it was all there. It became glaringly obvious to both of them at that moment that neither could live without the other, and that their fate was sealed in that moment. They would be together or perish, for they couldn't live on their own. A verse crossed Hermione's mind briefly that was from when her parents would read to her on Sunday nights, "_For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh._" She now completely understood why that was, as she couldn't stand to be without her Harry. She would die without him by her side, and she was sure he felt the same. If this is what love felt like, well, she was certainly going to follow where ever it led her.

When they finally pulled apart Hermione gave a nervous giggle. She looked at Harry and saw his questioning gaze.

"It's just, I am deathly afraid of heights and yet here I am, sitting who knows how high in the sky, completely at ease right here in your arms."

Harry chuckled at the thought, tightening his grip on her just a little, not wanting her to feel unsafe in his arms, completely oblivious to Hermione's inability to feel anything but while she was in this position. They passed a few more moments in silence before Harry decided that they really needed to talk about what had happened over the last two weeks.

"Hermione?"

"Yes Harry?"

"We need to talk."

Hermione sighed, she knew this was coming. The two of them had treated the other shamefully and now the time had come for them to get through it. She didn't want, though. This was a perfect moment, even if the moments leading up to it had almost resulted in her death. She didn't want to break this moment where they sat by themselves in the sky. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was to come.

"I know Harry, and I…."

Harry placed a finger to her lips, silencing her in mid-sentence.

"Please, let me go first, and tell you everything I have been trying to tell you for the past two weeks."

Hermione nodded, and leaned back a little to look Harry in the eye, not an easy feat on a broom.

Harry took a deep breath before continuing.

"Ok, here goes. First off, I wanted to apologize for what I said to you in the library today. It was just downright cruel. I let the anger get the best of me, and said something that I truly didn't mean, and I am deeply sorry for it."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but, once again, Harry placed a finger to her lips, and she promptly closed her mouth again.

"Secondly, I really, really have no interest in Ginny. I don't entirely know what happened on the Quidditch Pitch that day, but from what I have heard from others and what I saw and experienced myself, I pieced together most of it. When we won that game I was ecstatic. I started looking for you. You were the first person I wanted to share just how happy I was, and I was going to ask you to the Ball right then. It didn't matter that I stunk from the game, I was too happy to care, and I wanted you to be a part of that. Then, from out of nowhere, Ginny showed up, threw herself at me and forced me to kiss her. I didn't even respond, I was too shocked to move. I didn't even realize what was going on until I caught your eyes. That's when I made the move to get Ginny off me. I take it that you didn't hear about the fight that Ginny and I had after you left?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Well, the nutshell version of it is that she was under some delusion that we were destined to be together, and that I really had no choice in the matter. I told her, in no uncertain terms, that I was completely uninterested in her, and that we had no future together. After that I took off, apparently leaving her in a crying heap, and went to find you. After that, well, you know what happened. I heard that Ron, Fred, and George stayed back to try and talk some sense into her, but all she did was accuse them of not standing up for her, and that it was mostly their fault that her dreams were ruined. I don't have a clue what was going through her head, but I wanted no part of it. Her dream life apparently had her leeching off my fame, a fame that I have never wanted a part of."

Hermione nodded slowly, all the pieces seemingly falling into place as she listened and actually accepted what he had to say this time around. It just made sense when all the words entering her brain were not being intercepted by her anger. It also clicked with what Ginny had told her before knocking her into the lake.

"_Your life is over Hermione Granger. No one deserves to be with Harry Potter except for me."_

It just made sense to her now, and she was a little ashamed that she had let her anger get to her like that and so completely blind her from the truth. It wasn't fair to anyone, especially Harry. She took her own deep breath before speaking.

"I am sorry too, Harry, I don't know what came over me. I know that you have told me the majority of these things before, or at least tried to, but I let my own anger get the best of me and anything you told me wasn't really accepted on principle. I was blinded by my jealousy and my rage and I let it take hold of me for these last two weeks, and I have put us through so much unnecessary fighting, especially in the library. What I said to you, I can never take back, but I can be very remorseful about them, because in no way did I believe them. I wanted you, Harry, and when I saw you kissing Ginny I was sure that you were kissing her back, and I refused to see it otherwise or let anyone tell me otherwise. I don't know if you know this, but Ron and Draco came around to try and get me to talk to you, but I ended up ignoring them too once I figured out what their goal was."

Harry tightened his arms around Hermione, and she snaked hers around his waist in a much needed embrace. Both had tears falling down their faces as they made amends for their behavior. Harry tucked his finger under Hermione's chin and pulled her face up to look at him.

"So I figured you were hiding out in the Room of Requirement these last two weeks."

"How did you…..?"

"When my dad went to school here, he and a group of three friends pulled off some major magic and created a map of the school. It shows where everyone is at all times, with the exception of the Room of Requirement and the Chamber of Secrets. Since I am the only one in the school who can get down there, I knew that wasn't where you were, and since there had been no news of you actually leaving the school I figured out you must be in the Room. Clever spot, and my own downfall considering I showed you where it was. I am curious though, what did you do for two weeks?"

Hermione gave him a sly grin and a giggle before commenting, "Hmmmm smart and handsome. How is it that you haven't found a girlfriend yet? They should have been falling all over you."

Ignoring his outburst of indignance, Hermione proceeded to explain how she would only go to classes and meals, before hiding out in the Room of Requirement, where she would first spend at least an hour crying, for the first week, before trying to get her homework done. During the second week she spent less time crying and risked a few trips out to the library, which is how he had found her earlier today. She barely finished her tale before Harry had her in another tight hug, which she gladly reciprocated. It felt so right to be in his arms, who was she to fight something like this. She felt Harry pull back and looked back at him. Harry was a little nervous, but he pulled the courage that Gryffindors were prized for out of his chest and kept going. It was now or never. He took one of Hermione's hands in his own.

"Hermione, I am going to do what I should have done a long while ago," he focused his gaze directly into her eyes, and she was held captive by his very intense, almost glowing, emerald eyes. Eyes that she would never tire of looking into, she noted to herself.

"Hermione Jean Granger, it has been made more and more obvious that you mean more to me than anyone who lives on this world. Will you not only be my date for the upcoming Christmas Ball, but will you also be the woman who I spend the rest of my life with, because in my heart and mind there is no one who I feel more connected to?"

Harry didn't actually get a verbal answer to his question right away, unless you count the squeal of delight, which was quickly followed by what would soon become known as a 'Hermi-hug,' a hug that could almost put Molly Weasley to shame, but Harry didn't really seem to mind. After a few moments of this intense hug, Hermione pulled back and gave him a glowing smile.

"Oh Harry, yes! To both questions!" she hugged him again, before her brow furrowed in concentration. "Wait! Was that supposed to be a proposal?" She looked at him with a concentrated look.

Harry just smiled, gently kissing her on her forehead, before tucking her in his arms again.

"No, not yet, but I have no doubt in my mind that I will one day soon be on my knee in front of you with a ring in my hand."

Hermione smiled and simply tucked herself back into Harry's arms, which was probably a good idea considering what would happen next.

They had to get back to the castle somehow, and flying was their only option. Too bad one of them was very afraid of heights. So what if he descended a little faster than necessary. He was the son of a Marauder after all.

By the time they got back to the dormitory, hand in hand, Harry was sure that he would have a nice, fist-sized, bruise on his arm, a fist that would be just right for Hermione. The girl could pack a punch when she needed to.

Right of Passage

_Dec 15, 1995_

Harry, Draco and Ron met up with Hermione in the common room, and they went down to breakfast together. They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.

They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the various students on their way around the castle grounds. Hermione chose to watch Harry, Draco and the Weasley boys snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock said she was going back upstairs to get ready for the ball.

"What, you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at her incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head. Hermione just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle.

There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back to the common room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the bottom other picture.

"Lairy fights, that's the one!" she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside.

Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, Draco and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory, all of them looking very self-conscious, but none as much as Ron, who surveyed himself in the long mirror in the corner with an appalled look on his face. There was just no getting around the fact that his robes looked more like a dress than anything else. He wondered at this point why had had still had not gotten new dress robes. In a desperate attempt to make them look more manly, he cleaned up the Severing Charm he had used on the ruff and cuffs last year. It worked fairly well; at least the job that he had done on them last year could be fixed, and the ruffs and cuffs were now lace-free and a whole lot neater.

"I still can't work out how you three got the best-looking girls in the year," muttered Dean.

"Animal magnetism," said Ron, pulling stray threads out of his cuffs. Draco had finally gotten up the nerve to ask out Daphne Greengrass from Slytherin house. The two of them had been eyeing each other for over a year now. Ron was going with Parvati Patil, even though he had been a bit of a dismal date for her sister last year. He was determined to make it up to both of them.

The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different colors instead of the usual mass of black. Parvati was waiting for Ron at the foot of the stairs. She looked very pretty indeed, in robes of shocking pink, with her long dark plait braided with gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists. Ron was relieved to see that she wasn't giggling. It just brought back nightmares of the Yule Ball.

"You - er - look nice," he said awkwardly.

"Thanks," she said.

"Right," said Ron, looking around and winking at Harry. "Where's Hermione?"

Parvati shrugged. "Shall we go down then, Ron?"

"Okay," said Ron, wishing he could just stay in the common room. Fred winked at the four as they passed him on the way out of the portrait hole.

The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another.

A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Draco craned his neck as he searched for his date. When he finally saw her, his mouth dropped stupidly, and Harry had to reach over to close it for him. Daphne looked resplendent in a black dress that seemed to shimmer a dark green. Her hair was done up, with a few wispy tendrils loose to frame her face. Once Draco finally started using his brain again, he held out his hand to Daphne, who giggled, the Ice Queen persona falling as she tried to enjoy herself.

"You look…. Well simply amazing," Draco finally managed to get out, causing Daphne to blush as she took his hands.

The oak front doors opened. Over the heads of other students Harry saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the

statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Harry was still waiting for Hermione to show. He shook his head gently, even he thought that it was a little ridiculous to need three hours to get ready, but girls would be girls. He stood on the tips of his toes, trying to look over everyone's heads. It wasn't really necessary, as there was a sudden drop in the volume, before a path parted between Harry and the stairs outside the Great Hall. He looked up, and couldn't help it. His jaw, too, dropped.

It was Hermione.

But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.

"Hi, Harry!" she said. "Hi, Parvati! Hi, Daphne!"

Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one either; nearly everyone was finding it hard to believe the change in her appearance, and the girls of Harry's secret fan club were throwing dirty glares at Hermione, while many of the guys were wondering why they hadn't asked Hermione to the Ball. Draco took great pleasure in closing Harry's jaw just as Harry had done to him a few moments ago.

Harry took Hermione's hand and gently pulled her into a kiss. Most everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they did. After a moment they broke the kiss, and headed to into the Hall, Ron, Draco, Parvati and Daphne right behind them. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people. Harry took advantage of the sudden rise of voices to talk to Hermione.

"Wow, Hermione, you look like an angel. My angel, to be precise." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze as Hermione blushed and let a small giggle, a sound that Harry was sure he would never get tired of. She leaned into his shoulder as they walked to a table and sat down, where they were joined by Ron, Parvati, Draco, Daphne, Neville, who surprisingly had managed to ask out Susan Bones, which made Harry, Ron and Draco smile. No one else really seemed to have the courage to sit down with them, so there were a few empty seats around the table.

There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Harry picked his up uncertainly and looked around -there were no waiters. Dumbledore, sitting with the rest of the staff, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!" And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too, feeling kind of stupid, as that is the exact same way it had been at the Yule Ball.

When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.

The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Harry, who had been so interested in watching them that he had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out.

"Come on!" Parvati hissed to everyone. "We're supposed to dance!"

Harry tripped over his dress robes as he stood up. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; Harry walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye (he could see Seamus and Dean waving at him and sniggering, he had never really been good at dancing), and next moment, Hermione had seized his hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers. His worries melted away at that moment as he held this beautiful girl in his arms and they began to dance. He knew that even if he messed up in the dance, that Hermione would be with him and wouldn't ridicule him. He watched as Hermione danced with him, her movements fluid and graceful. _She must have done this before or taken dance lessons,_ Harry thought, _but then again, girls certainly have more natural grace than guys._

Harry and Hermione swayed to the music until the song ended, and everyone broke out in applause. The Weird Sisters broke into a faster song, and everyone stepped up their movements to match the beat. Harry lost count of how many times he laughed at the antics of other people as they danced across the floor. Fred and Angelina, who were dancing so exuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury. Flitwick was dancing with McGonagall. He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully around the floor with him. Dumbledore and Professor Sinistra were doing a very ungainly two-step. Neville and Susan were dancing nearby - he could see Susan wincing frequently as Neville trod on her feet – and Harry couldn't help but laugh.

But at no time during the dance did Harry's hands leave Hermione's. They just fit so perfectly together that he didn't want to let go. When another slow song came on, they molded their bodies together and slowly rotated on the spot, swaying to the music. Everything just seemed to come together without a single flaw that night.

When they finally took a break, Harry led Hermione out to the front courtyard. Warming charms had been cast so that the snow melted and there was no need for a jacket. They made their way to a more secluded area, and just stood there in each other's arms. The moon was shining bright, making Hermione's skin glow. She really did look like an angel to him, and she certainly felt like it. Sure they had their problems, but they worked through them just like anyone else. Harry frowned as he felt a pang of regret once again for what he had said, and opened his mouth to apologize once again. Hermione, though, seemed to know exactly what was on his mind, and gently covered his mouth with her hand.

"Don't say it Harry, you know you don't need to. This night has been perfect for me, and I don't want it dragged down by apologies and words about what has passed and been dealt with."

Harry just nodded, and resumed holding her. They could just hear the music from the Great Hall, and resumed their slow swaying, Harry's arms around Hermione's waist, and Hermione's arms around Harry's neck. It was amongst the twinkling lights of the fairies that Harry and Hermione shared their first real passionate kiss as a couple. It was nothing too out of the ordinary, but it was one that carried with it all the reassurances that they would be by each other's side no matter what happened.

It was close to one in the morning before anyone really started making their way to bed. Curfew had been lifted for that night, and Harry was sure there would be people sleeping in the Great Hall tonight. Harry and Hermione, however, made their way up to the Gryffindor common room, and changing into nightclothes, came back down to sit in front of the fire. Even in a simple nightgown, the same color as her dress, Hermione still looked like an angel to him, a fact that he made sure she knew, getting more blushes from her. They sat on the couch in front of the fire, Harry watching the light from the fire cause Hermione's skin to glow and her eyes to twinkle. Harry's arms around Hermione, and that is the way they fell asleep that night, and no one had the heart to disturb them.

Right of Passage

A/N: So there you have it. They finally got everything settled. As for hints for the next chapter, well, Harry and Hermione find out that maybe there is more their families hold in common than they realize. Why is Emma Granger breaking out in tears at the sight of Harry, and what has Lily been keeping from her son all these years?

I would once again like to thank you, the readers and reviewers, for everything you do. These stories simply wouldn't be worth anything without you, and I want to make sure you know that everything you do is appreciated


	7. Memories Close to Home

A/N: I do so apologize for taking so long to write this next chapter. My life has been absolutely nuts these last few weeks, and I barely had time to breathe, let alone write another chapter. However, here it is, and I do hope you enjoy it. I decided to stick with the conventional decision of the majority of writers, at least from the stories I have read, and named Hermione's parents Dan and Emma. Also, please keep in mind that I have no desire to get into religious arguments concerning the characters. These are just what I have put into the story.

As always, everything having to do with the canon HP story is owned by JK Rowling. Everything else, well, that IS mine

_Dec 16, 1995_

The Hogwarts Express was scheduled to leave at noon, and everyone was thankful that the house elves had everything packed and ready for them the following morning. More than a few students slept in long enough that they barely made it to the carriages. Harry and Hermione were amongst that group of students.

They had woken up still in each other's arms on the couch. One of the house elves had draped a blanket over their sleeping forms during the night, even though the common room was plenty warm with the fire. There were several girls who had stood and watched them for a few moments with blissful smiles on their faces at the sight of them, though several other girls were furious with Hermione for taking Harry off the market, and more than a handful of them considered hexing her.

Harry and Hermione clambered into a carriage with Ron and Draco and, to their surprise, Daphne and Parvati. Harry's raised eyebrows were the only indication of surprise though, as Harry looked at the two boys during the ride to Hogsmeade Station. Draco was the first to notice Harry's inquiring look, but only after placing a gentle kiss on Daphne's cheek and throwing an arm over her shoulders.

"Could your eyebrows possibly get any higher, Harry? It almost looks like you don't have any."

Harry gestured with his free arm at the four people around him, as he too had his arm around the young lady at his side. "Just curious when this happened is all."

"Well were you going to ask us at any point today or just sit there staring at us with eyes wider than Lovegood's?"

Ron and Harry chuckled at Draco's remark. Luna was a great young woman, even if she could be a bit odd at times. Her trademark look was with wide and semi-focused eyes as she talked to you, and she was the envy of many people in the castle as it seemed she hadn't a care in the world. Harry shook his head and brought his mind back to his conversation with Draco.

"I probably would have asked you at some point today, after I got past the shock that you finally got up off your arse and asked Daphne out. You've been trying that for what, three years now?"

Daphne turned to look at Draco, and it was her turn to raise her eyebrows at him. The blonde lion turned what normally would have been a mild red, but because of his pale complexion was a lot redder than it would originally have been. Daphne didn't waste any time looking at him and voiced what was on her mind.

"Three years? You have seriously been trying to get up the courage to ask me out for three years now? Some Gryffindor you make."

Ron and Harry were desperately trying to keep their laughter quiet as Daphne worked over Draco, but the Gryffindor remark was too much and the laughter they were holding in burst out. It was a good natured laughter as they were happy that Draco had finally come through, and Draco had the sense to see this instead of getting mad at his friends. With a small smirk on his face, he leaned over to Daphne and whispered something in her ear that resulted in her letting out a small squeak and blushing deeply. This only served to make Ron and Harry laugh more, as they were well aware that Draco most likely said something along the lines of a compliment mixed with something a little more risqué. It was just the way he was.

The train ride to London was filled with laughter and smiles all around for the first few hours. As the journey went on, though, the three ladies slowly dozed off and the three young men carried on a conversation in hushed tones, so as not to wake their partners.

As the train pulled into King's Cross Station, the young men were reluctant to wake their beautiful sleeping counterparts. It just didn't seem fair, as they had all had a crazy term so far, and they certainly needed a break. But, they couldn't stay on the train forever, so with reluctant hearts they woke up the three ladies, and ushered them off the train.

After everyone had disembarked and the three couples had said their goodbyes, Harry and Hermione made their way down the platform. Harry immediately spotted his mother standing by the barrier. Grabbing Hermione's hand, he made his way over to Lily, practically dragged his still slightly groggy girl-friend behind him. He waved at his mother to get her attention, and she broke out into a smile when she saw her son.

"Harry!" She wrapped her boy up in a hug, gently kissing his forehead as she did so, "It's good to see you again. I miss you so much when you go off to Hogwarts." She pulled him back and gave him a mother's one over, 'You've grown, yet again. I swear, every time you come back from school, you've grown at least another half-inch. If only your father could see you….." She trailed off as her emerald eyes that she had given her son start to glaze over.

Harry, not wanting his mother to get upset, broke from his mother's grasp and pulled Hermione next to him.

"Mum, I want you to meet Hermione. She came to Hogwarts this year for her OWLS after doing most of her schooling with a private tutor."

Lily's eyes immediately took in Hermione, and she gasped. Her hands reached out and she gently grasped Hermione's face, pulling her closer as if to inspect her. A quiet, "It can't be," escaped her lips as she gazed into Hermione's eyes.

"Mum, is everything alright?" Harry was watching his mother with a confused look on his face. Lily released Hermione and gave Harry a smile.

"Of course not dear, everything is just fantastic. I'm pleased to meet you Hermione, but unfortunately Harry and I have to be on our way pretty soon. You are, of course, more than welcome to come visit for the holidays."

Hermione smiled, "Thank you Mrs. Potter, I might just have to take you up on that offer."

"Please Hermione, its Lily. I'm not near old enough to be Mrs. Potter yet." Lily laughed, "Now Harry, go and make sure that this fine young lady gets to her parents. I will be right here." She made little shooing motions with her hands, and Hermione took the opportunity to drag Harry off to find her parents. After several minutes of searching, Hermione started jumping up and down excitedly.

"There they are Harry, look!" Hermione pointed to a couple standing off to the side, anxiously scanning the crowd for their daughter. Hermione took off in a full sprint towards them, wrapping her arms around a woman who looked like she could have been Hermione's older sister. Hermione hugged her mother for what must have been a full minute before turning her attention to her father, wrapping him in a hug of the same intensity. When she was finished, she pulled back and surveyed both her parents, who were doing the same to her.

"I've missed you so much. Hogwarts was fun, but I missed you both!" Hermione nearly cried as she basked in the attention of her parents.

"We missed you too darling," Hermione's mother said, "Tell us, how was your first term at Hogwarts."

"It was great! Oh, I have to introduce you to someone!" Hermione turned around and motioned to Harry to come forward while her parents shared a knowing look, "Mum, Dad, this is Harry. Harry, this is my mum and dad, Emma and Dan Granger."

Hermione's parents turned to look at Harry, and they both froze. They simply stood there starring at Harry, looks of shock on their faces. The world seem to fade away to the two adults standing there, leaving just the four of them standing there, the adults shocked, and the teenagers a little awkwardly. It was Emma who broke ranks and crossed the distance between her and Harry, tears streaming down her face.

"Is it really you?" Emma says, her hands reaching out to brush the hair out of Harry's face. With the customary flick towards his forehead, Emma lets out a sob, and wraps Harry in a tight hug, tears streaming down her cheeks, wetting Harry's hair. "Oh my goodness, it really is you." Emma's sobs only increased in volume as she refused to let Harry go, holding on to him for all she was worth. Dan just stood there, a look of shock still on his face. Hermione and Harry shared identical looks of shock mingled with confusion. Hermione finally had enough and said in a slightly raised voice,

"Can someone please tell us what's going on? First Harry's mom has a reaction at seeing me, and now you two are going all teary-eyed and hysterical over Harry. Can someone fill in the blanks please?"

Emma let Harry go from her near death grip hug and turned to her daughter, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"We will Hermione, but now is not the time to do so." She looked at Harry, "Harry, dear, you must come visit us for Christmas at some point. We have a lot to talk about."

"Actually Mrs. Granger, my mum says you are more than welcome at our house for Christmas. But, I have to get going, why don't I send Hermione an owl, and we can determine things from there."

Hermione was rummaging through her bag and pulled out a pen and piece of paper, where she scribbled her phone number and handed it to Harry.

"Here, take this, call us this week, and we can make plans to get together."

Then, with a very red face, she stood on her tip toes and kissed Harry, and whispered, "I love you," before dashing away and ushering her parents, who were both sporting very knowing smirks.

Harry just stood there and watched her leave, his lips tingling slightly from her kiss. A smile played slowly across his face as he turned and made his way back to his mother. This was going to be a very good Christmas break.

_Right of Passage_

Ginny Weasley was not having a good time. After she got home, she went straight to her room, not even bothering to stay and chat with her parents about this year. She curled herself up in the darkest corner of her room and cried. What had she done?

After her attempt to kill Hermione was thwarted by Harry, Ginny seemed to come back to her senses, and had rushed, crying, to her dorm room, only after making sure that Hermione had not fallen in the lake. Ever since first year she had had these episodes of unexplained rage towards anyone who associated with Harry and wanted to make a move to get into a relationship with him. Usually she could contain it, but there was something about this Hermione girl that just made all her efforts to hide her rage useless. Even more confusing was that she had no reason why she had these rages, or where they came from. Sure, every time she argued, she made the argument that she was the only one suited for Harry's fame, but to be honest, Harry's fame scared the crap out of her. All those people watching every aspect of his life would only focus their attention on her should she start dating him, and she didn't want that. She liked her bit of privacy and didn't want her life on display. So why did she have this crazy voice in her head telling her that she needed to be the only one close to Harry.

_**Because it's the truth, only you are meant to be that close to Harry.**_

The voice in her head was back. Most of the time she could shut it out, but there were times, like her rages against those who got close to Harry, where it was simply over-powering.

_But I have no reason to be close to him. I don't want his fame, and while his money would be nice, I want to make my own. Yes, he is a nice guy, but he's totally taken with Hermione, and that's fine._

_**Nonsense, listen to yourself, you sound ridiculous. His fame and money are yours and yours alone, he just doesn't know it yet. This has been what you have dreamed about since you were old enough to plan a wedding, being Mrs. Potter.**_

_Yeah, me and every other female that grew up in the magical world. Why should I get that, especially when he is so obviously attached with Hermione?_

_**But he shouldn't be, he should be attached to you.**_

_No, he should be free to make his own choices_

_**Yes and his choice should be you. You are just making his choice easier by eliminating all other options.**_

_But that's not fair to him, and like I said before, I don't want him._

_**Yes you do, you know you do. Deep down inside, you know you want him all to yourself.**_

_NO I don't. Why are you even around, all you do is make my life miserable_

_**Miserable? Hah, you don't know the meaning of the word. Besides, I am trying to make your life better.**_

_How, by trying to get me to murder my classmates? Yeah, that makes my life so much better. I could go to Azkaban for that._

_**Nonsense, the only people who know are you and Hermione, and I am positive that girl will never tell.**_

_How do you know that? You don't know her, for all we know she could be an agent of the Auror's or something and they already know._

_**Relax, you'll be just fine. Besides, one dead girl isn't really going to matter.**_

_You know, I really don't like your attitude. Remind me why I listen to you, or even tolerate you. Oh wait, I try very, very, hard not to._

_**I'm only trying to bring your greatest desires to fruition.**_

_No you're not. Now get out of my head._

_**Not going to happen, girlie. I'm here to stay, and if I don't like what I am seeing, well, I'll take control and change it.**_

_Get OUT!_

It was at that point that Ginny became aware just how cold and clammy she was. Shivering, she went for a quick shower to try and warm up and calm down. After her shower, she sought out her father. Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to speak to him privately until well after dinner. Her dad had gone out to his shed to tinker with his muggle stuff, and Ginny silently crossed the yard out back and found him taking apart a car battery, not that she knew what it was.

"Dad?" she asked, in a small voice.

Arthur Weasley hadn't heard his daughter come in, and nearly jumped out of his skin, regardless of the fact that his daughter had used a quiet voice. "AH! Oh, Ginny, it's just you. You gave me quite the scare." He paused for a moment to settle his racing heart, "What can I do for you?"

"Dad, we need to talk…"

_Right of Passage_

_Dec 24, 1995_

Harry and Hermione had shared a plethora of phone calls over the past week, and everything was set for Christmas. The Grangers were all set to come over to the Potter residence for Christmas. Lily, Harry, and Sirius had been very busy cleaning and decorating as much of the house as they could. Sirius and Lily had even conspired against Harry and had hung countless pieces of Mistletoe all around the house. They had also taken as many opportunities as they could to take the mickey out of Harry about him and his new girlfriend. They were rewarded nearly every time with Harry turning beat red, and he would sometimes stomp off in a huff, much to the added amusement of his mother and godfather.

Hermione an her parents were due to arrive around one, and as everything was laid out, Harry was sitting in the armchair that was closest to the front door, shooting glances at the clock on the fireplace mantle every few seconds. When the doorbell finally rang, Harry was out of his chair faster than anyone thought possible (in fact, Harry's magic may have augmented his movements, making them faster), and the bell had barely stopped ringing when Harry yanked open the door, making Hermione jump.

"Hi!" Harry said with a giant smile, and Hermione ran up and wrapped him in a Hermi-hug.

"I missed you so much," she whispered in his ear, "I could hardly stand to be so far away from you."

Harry just tightened his hold on Hermione, breathing in her unique scent that was most definitely Hermione. They stayed like that until a gentle clearing of someone's throat brought them back to earth, and they sheepishly released each other from their arms, but never really stopped touching. Harry ran his hands through his hair.

"Oh, yeah, ummm, Mum, Sirius, this is."

"Dan! Emma! My goodness, it's been so long."

Lily rushed forward to embrace the two elder Grangers, who returned the hugs with gusto. The two women were a mixture of laughter and tears while Dan and Sirius were trading banter back and forth. Needless to say, it left the two teens standing in the doorway very shocked, Hermione more so than Harry as he was the only one who didn't know the Grangers true history and thus Hermione realized that her parents must have met Harry's a long while ago, as well as known about magic. Harry was just surprised to find out that his mum and Sirius knew Hermione's parents. They never spoke of any Grangers, so this was definitely a surprise to him.

After the adults had calmed down a little, everyone made their way into the house and found a seat around the fire. Hermione and Harry had a loveseat, while Dan and Emma had the other. Sirius and Lily had settled themselves into armchairs. They made idle chatter, talking about the holidays and Harry and Hermione briefed them a little on some aspects of Hogwarts that Dan and Emma were curious about. Finally, Harry broached the topic that had been hanging over their heads.

"So, can someone please explain how you all know each other? To the best of my knowledge, I've never seen you before, but you seem to know all about me."

It was Lily who answered her son.

"Harry, sweetheart, Dan, Emma, Sirius, Remus, your father and I were all very well acquainted with each other before you and Hermione were born."

Harry just sat there with a shocked look on his face, one that was mirrored by Hermione.

"But… how? You've never said a word about the Grangers before."

"Harry, this is going to be a long story, so before we start, does anyone want a drink?"

Everyone put in their orders for their drinks, and Lily and Sirius disappeared to go get them. Once everyone was properly settled with a drink in hand, or in their laps, Lily took a deep breath.

"Your father and I graduated Hogwarts in 1978 and we moved to Godric's Hollow, which is apparently not a purely magical village..."

_Flashback_

_July 12, 1978_

_Lily wrapped her arms around James and he slid his arm behind her back. They stood facing their new home in Godric's Hollow. Lily sighed and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder._

"_Oh James, this house is perfect. I can already see our children running around. I can't believe we found such a beautiful place."_

_James ran his hand up and down his wife's back as he smiled and surveyed their new home._

"_It certainly is, love."_

_The sound of a vehicle pulling into the house across the drive catches their attention and they turn to see a young couple get out of their vehicle and start moving their stuff from the back of their SUV and into the house. They were a little shocked, as they were sure that this was a magical village, yet these people were quite obviously muggles. Not that they cared about such designations, they were just shocked at the moment. Getting over their initial surprise, they walked over to the couple wanting to be good neighbors. Ever the gracious person, James was the first to break the ice._

"_Hi! I'm James and this lovely woman next to me is my wife, Lily. We're your neighbors across the street." James said with a smile, extending his hand out to the man, who shook it warmly._

"_Hi, I'm Dan, and the lovely woman standing next to me is my wife, Emma. Nice to meet you."_

"_Do you guys need a hand moving things in at all?"_

"_No, I think we got the last of our stuff moved in, but thank you for the offer."_

"_No problem. Say, it's about dinner time, and there's this lovely little pub just around the corner. Interested in coming for dinner?"_

_Dan looked at Emma, who nodded, "Sure that sounds lovely."_

_End Flashback_

That's how we ended up meeting the Grangers, and over that time, none of us spoke of magic, as we didn't want to have to obliviate the Grangers because we made a mistake, as they didn't know of magic. However, there was an incident just after you were born that caused our magical secret to come out into the open.

_Flashback_

_Aug 19, 1980_

_Dan, Emma, Hermione, James, Lily and Harry were all in the Grangers sitting room by the fireplace, the adults enjoying a hot cup of coffee, Hermione was on the floor playing with her toys, while Harry was sitting in Lily's lap, sleeping soundly after a long day. Emma was watching Lily fawn over Harry with a smile on her face._

"_So was he worth the nine months of suffering?" she asked with a smile._

_Lily had gone through a particularly rough pregnancy. Harry was just stubborn and, while the Grangers didn't know this, incredibly powerful magically. He had already taken to playing with magical sparks, and who knows what kind of trouble he got up to inside Lily's womb. Now, though, Lily was certainly all smiles about her little boy._

"_Oh absolutely; if anything is worth nine months of that kind of pain, it is this boy right here."_

_They were interrupted by a cry of "ouch" followed by a giggle, as Hermione had whacked her father's big toe rather hard with one of her rattles._

"_Hermione," Dan said, "Don't do that please."_

_Hermione barely heeded her father's words, and not long after, they were rewarded with another cry followed by another giggle from Hermione._

"_Alright little one, I warned you. This rattle is mine now."_

_Dan quickly scooped the rattle out of his daughter's hands, but he had barely moved to put the rattle on the mantle when it disappeared from his hands and back into Hermione's. It happened so fast that James and Lily nearly missed it. They exchanged a meaningful look while Dan shrugged and muttered something about getting old, before grabbing the rattle again and successfully placing it on the mantle. Hermione simply looked at her father before bursting into tears over her lost toy. There was a flash that caused spots to appear in everyone's eyes, and by the time everyone could see again, Hermione had stopped crying and the rattle was back in her hand._

_Dan and Emma were stunned. How did their daughter get her toy back when it was so clearly out of reach? James and Lily shared another look, where Lily nodded at James, and he turned back to face the Granger parents._

"_Dan? Emma? There's something about us, including your daughter it seems, that you need to know."_

_There was a small pause as Dan and Emma looked at the Potters with confused visages. What on earth could the Potters know about their daughter that they didn't? James continued._

"_You see, Lily, Harry, myself, and now Hermione, can do magic. Not those tricks that you see in shows, but real magic."_

_Again, there was a pause, before Dan burst out laughing. Here he was, worried that something serious was going on, but it was Lily and James just pulling a trick on him. He breathed a sigh of relief._

"_Phew, and here I thought that there was something wrong with Hermione, but it was just you two pulling the wool over our eyes, very clever. What did you use to make the flash, by the way?"_

_James just rolled his eyes. Was this how Lily's parents reacted to the explanation that their daughter was a witch? He certainly hoped not._

"_Seriously you two, we mean it. The four of us are magic users. Here, watch."_

_James pulled out his wand and proceeded to turn the cup Dan was holding into a cute little puppy, and the cup Emma was holding into a small Kitten. This effectively caused the Granger parents to freeze and rethink their earlier mirth. They were being serious, and Dan's gut instinct was that what they had just been told was going to change their lives forever. They didn't know how right they were._

_End Flashback_

Lily took a moment to pause and take a sip of her drink in order to restore her voice. Her throat was getting dry from all the story telling.

"After that, we started to help Dan and Emma get accustomed to the magical world. The problem, however, was that Voldemort was on the rise, and he was searching for followers. Not to blow our own horns, but James and I were amongst the best and the brightest to ever graduate from Hogwarts, and Voldemort wanted us to join him. Needless to say, we were certainly not interested. He came looking for us three times, and he nearly caught us the last one, but each time were able to get away. After the third time, he got the picture, and decided if we were not going to join him, we then our family deserved to die. That's how we came to be under the Fidelius Charm. We made Peter our secret keeper, and only the people in this room, along with your father, Remus, and Dumbledore knew where the house was."

She smiled at the two teens, "The two of you were thick as thieves. I shudder to think what the state of Godric's Hollow would be like of the two of you had grown up together. Already at those young ages you were little devils." She had a gleam in her eye that held both pride and sadness. "But alas, it was not meant to be."

Lily stopped, tears starting to stream down her face as she remembered James death as he tried to protect Harry. Sirius took that as his cue, and relayed to tale of how James died to Hermione, who had never heard it before. By the time he finished, Lily was not the only one with tears in her eyes. Sirius took a deep breath, and exhaled a sigh.

"James and I grew up together. My parents were pureblood bigots and a great supporter of Voldemort, though they never sunk to the Death Eater's level. When I turned 15 I moved out of my parent's home and James' folks graciously accepted me. When James died, it hit really close to home for a lot of people."

Hermione, who had sat quietly and listened to the story, spoke up.

"But why didn't you tell us," she gestured between her and Harry, "any of these things. Obviously they mean so much to you, how come we never found out?"

Lily didn't have enough control over her emotions to continue the tale, so it was Emma who spoke up.

"After James died, well, I'm not really sure why we fell apart. Your father and I decided to move to where we are now. There were too many bad memories of Godric's Hollow that we just couldn't stomach living there any longer. We had loved the park that James died in, but after his death, we could not bear to be anywhere near the place. Even after all this time, it is still hard to be in this place."

Harry had been sitting quietly through the entire tale, as he already knew how his dad died, though the news about the Grangers was interesting. To think that him and Hermione would have grown up together, well, that was an interesting thought. But then something struck him about the story and his eyes widened in shock. He turned to Hermione.

"Ok, so you are muggle-born, right?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, not quite sure where he was going with this. "Yes, obviously."

"Well, then how did you get into Hogwarts? Or, more importantly, why didn't you tell me?" His face had hardened a little, and his voice had become a little icy. "We started dating almost a month ago, didn't you think this was information that I might want to know? I could care less about your parentage; I'm more concerned about why you felt the need to keep this from me."

Harry was upset, and it was visible to everyone in the room. If anyone had been paying attention to the weather, they would have seen the clouds darken, and thunder could be heard in the distance. But everyone was focused on Harry. Hermione looked both nervous and a little upset.

"Why does it matter? So now you know, your girlfriend is muggle-born and is illegally attending Hogwarts. It's not like it means anything."

"I already told you, I don't care about your heritage, what matters here is trust. When were you going to tell me, if at all? You had plenty of opportunity to tell me at school. Heck, you could have even told me the night of the ball but no, I have to find out about it not from you, where I should have heard it from, but in a tale that's told to me just before the tale of my dad's death is recounted. How do you think that makes me feel?"

By the time Harry finished, his voice was several decibels louder, and everyone found themselves pinned to their chairs. No one spoke for several moments, before Harry stormed out of the sitting room and up the stairs to his room. Lily shot Sirius a look, and he high-tailed it after him, taking the stairs two at a time, while Hermione looked shocked, before she burst into tears, her face in her hands. Lily and Emma were quickly by her side.

"What have I done?" Hermione cried, "It's not like I tried to keep this from him, we were just enjoying ourselves far too much that I didn't want to dampen the mood, or I just plain forgot about telling him."

"Hermione," Lily said, "Harry has had a hard time his whole life dealing with people who withhold the truth from him. It's a hard road for him to walk, I mean, he lost his father because his dad's friend withheld the truth from them, and betrayed our location to the most dangerous dark lord to walk the earth since Morgana. You just need to give him time. True, he had a point about you being the one to tell him, but don't beat yourself up about it. Harry will come round. I'll wager my vault in Gringotts that Sirius is upstairs now berating Harry for the way he treated you."

That's exactly what Sirius was doing. He had caught Harry raging in his room, and waiting for the boy to calm down before laying into him.

"You know, that was a right prick thing to do, especially to your girl."

"Oh come off it Sirius. Do you think it makes me happy that I found out one of the biggest truths of her life in a story told by my mum? What am I supposed to think?"

"Whatever it is you're supposed to think, it certainly wasn't that. Do you think she was trying to keep that from you? Tell me, just how much time did you spend alone that you would have wanted that kind of thing to come up. From my experience, that's not something you really want to bring up on a date or at a point in time where you are really enjoying yourself. Personally, I don't even know if something like that would even come to mind that I _should_ tell you during those times. And none of that is an excuse for you to treat that young woman downstairs like that. I know James, Lily and I raised you better than that."

Harry stood there opening and closing his mouth a few times before he slumped onto his bed and stuck his head in his hands.

"I've really screwed things up, haven't I?"

Sirius sat himself down next to Harry.

"I don't know that you screwed things up, but I do know that you made a right fool of yourself. That young woman downstairs loves you deeply, and you reduced her to tears in a span of a few seconds."

He threw his arm around the boy.

"Look, I realize that you have a hard time with betrayals, and this could certainly be viewed like that, if you want to destroy your relationship. However, I don't think that's what either of you want to do. You are far too close for that. I would suggest that you apologize to her, and soon. "

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and a soft, timid, voice called through the wood.

"Harry?"

Sirius stood up and opened the door, revealing a clearly distraught young woman. The two teens looked at each other a few moments before Hermione burst into tears and rushed into Harry's arms with repeated cries of "I'm so sorry." Sirius closed the door and walked down the stairs to give them some privacy. He emerged to curious looks from the other three adults, and he waved off their questions.

"They're fine; they're fixing it right as we speak."

"You left them alone in Harry's room?" Dan asked, only to be swatted in the arm by his wife. Sirius smiled.

"Dan, the last thing on the minds of those two is anything of the sexual nature. I reckon they will be down in a little while. You have nothing to worry about. Those two have always been mature for their age, and they deserve the trust that we give them."

Dan looked only slightly appeased at what Sirius had said, but nevertheless, he settled himself more comfortably in his spot. Sirius continued.

"I do, however, have a question for the two of you. Hogwarts has been expressly used as a school for children with at least one magical parent. How did you get Hermione in?"

"In a word," Dan replied, "Albus. When Hermione was eleven, Albus showed up every summer to teach Hermione magic, and after this summer he told Hermione that everything was in place for her to attend Hogwarts. It had something to do with basically forging Hermione's history into the Peverell family, I believe. I don't really know the details, but I figure that's best in case anyone comes knocking. Albus didn't want us to be found guilty should his ruse be discovered."

Sirius nodded. It made sense to him. Albus was a long time fighter of trying to get muggle-borns into Hogwarts, but there were just too many advocates against that in the Wizengamot that there was nothing he could do.

"Any reason why he seemed to take such a personal interest in Hermione? I know it is not unusual for muggle-borns to seek out tutors, but from what I have heard, Hermione is the first Albus has ever taken the time to tutor."

Dan shrugged, "We're not sure. He just showed up and offered to teach Hermione magic. We knew it would be better for her to learn to control her magic rather than have it be based off of emotional outburst, and we had been considering getting a tutor for her. Albus just made that search a lot easier for us."

They chatted more about how their lives had been over the past 13 years, before they were interrupted by the simultaneous rumbles of Dan and Sirius' stomachs. Lily laughed and looked at the clock on the mantle.

"I hope those two finish making up soon, dinner is due to be ready any minute now."

Sure enough, a few minutes later a pair of teenagers came down the stairs. They both had signs of recent crying, but there were smiles on their faces. Dinner was a happy affair, with laughter and jokes all around. Everyone complimented the Potter adults on their cooking and they stacked the dishes in the sink for later as they all gathered around the tree. It was present time.

By the time they were finished, the floor was covered in wrapping paper of all sorts, and there was a pile of presents at everyone's feet, but they lay forgotten as the lights were dimmed and they all watched the Dr. Seuss classic, 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It had quickly becoming a Potter tradition over the years, and they shared that tradition with the Grangers. By the time the movie was finished, Harry and Hermione were, once again, asleep on a couch, with Hermione's head in Harry's lap. Emma was loathe to wake them, but knew that they should get to bed. The two teens headed up to their respective rooms, with Harry bring Hermione to her door.

"You know, I am really sorry for the way I treated you earli…."

Hermione cut him off with a finger on his lips.

"Shhh, we've already been over this. It was an over-reaction, and we worked through it."

"I know, I still feel bad though. You deserve so much better than the way I treated you. How do you put up with me?"

Hermione smiled, "It's easy. You have your moments when you don't think, but all the other time you treat me like a princess." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, slowly and carefully. It wasn't meant to be something overly passionate, just something to show each other their love. Harry pulled back and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight love. I will see you in the morning."

He opened her door, and closed it behind her, walking to his room and laying on his bed, his thoughts never leaving Hermione.

A/N: So there you have it, Christmas with the Potters, and a little bit of history has been revealed. Coming up, what is going on in Ginny's head, and why are their Aurors wandering around the school?

I know that many of you have commented on two things. First, about Ginny's attempted murder of Hermione, please have patience. I will deal with it in time. Second, many of you picked up on my mistake about Ginny knowing Hermione's heritage. Well, it has been fixed now, and I wanted to thank all of you for telling me about it.

Once again, thank you all for reading, and I look forward to seeing your reviews!


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